Pretty Cure Shuffle!
by MrAntonio
Summary: The Gambling King and the Card Shark Quartet have invaded the Land of Cards with monsters created by souls of not only the denizens of the Land, but others that they have collected as they've moved from land to land. Cure Poker is forced into the human world and has no memory of her past! Kichi, Audrey and Madoka join forces with Poker to save the Land of Cards before it's too late
1. The Land of Cards in Danger!

_Author's note: After finally learning how to use Fanfiction dot Net's Doc Manager, I have edited episode 1 to finally fit the correct format of my later episodes. My only regret is that it took me so long for this to happen. School and life got in the way. And I know that's not much of an excuse, but life happens. I apologize for this first episode being so confusing to probably most (if not all) of you that have read it. I plan to do so with episodes 2 through 6 as well. Please bare with me while I try to correct the problems in these early chapters._

_Thank you,  
-MrAntonio_

* * *

It had all happened so quickly. One moment, Cure Poker was standing in the meadow, admiring the gorgeous reds, blues, greens and yellows of the Queen's Garden. The next, the sky had turned a murky shade of gray, and the roar of monsters could be heard from every direction. The White Warrior acted quickly. The Gambling King and his minions were here. She knew this day was coming, but she was still surprised, now that it was actually happening. The Gambling King had issued a warning to the King of Cards two years prior: Surrender the kingdom or suffer the consequences. Naturally, the King had refused. What surprised Cure Poker, however, was that it took the King this long to attack. The Land of Cards had changed monarchs in the two years it took him to ready his attack.

He had issued the warning over two years ago. Cure Poker had just received her powers of being a Pretty Cure warrior. The warriors before her had been retired. Cure Poker didn't know them, but she did look up to them when she was younger. And it was the first time that a citizen of the Land of Cards had been selected to become a Pretty Cure Warrior. The Land of Cards entered a time of peace. She was still necessary to protecting the Queen, but Poker didn't do much in those two years.

It should have been Poker's time to shine. However, the monsters unleashed their fire, and stormed the small towns in the kingdom. In a flash of white and pale pink, Cure Poker raced her way to the Battle Tower of the Queen's castle. She found the Lieutenant of the Card Army there, but the Queen was gone.

"Where is she?! Where's the Queen?!" Poker ordered.  
"She's already made her way to the front line!"

Poker's eyes widened; her stomach dropped. The very person that was at the highest on her list of people to protect was fighting? She bust through the door and raced down the staircase, cursing under her breath. She had to make it to the front line of the battle. It was bad enough that she hadn't been prepared for the Gambling King's army, but she would never forgive herself if something happened to the Queen.

She made her way through the courtyard. It was large and circular, with a round concrete wall running all around it. There were five doors in the wall, one behind Poker where she had just come from, and four others lining the wall. The courtyard was empty, and quiet, save for the occasional roar from a monster or scream from a citizen.

Those screams caused Poker's skin to crawl. She should be out there protecting her people. She started to run again, set on preventing her people from suffering.

_THWUMP! _

Cure Poker felt something hit her back. Whatever it was had hit her with a force that caused her to fly into the wall of the courtyard. Dazed, she slid down to her knees, her cheek being scratched as gravity worked on her. The White Warrior used all her now fading strength to turn around and face what ever it was that had attacked her. Her vision blurred, and all she could make out was the figure of a tall young man, his hair an electric blue color. He was advancing on her, but she had no way to fight. Her strength was gone. Whatever had hit her made sure of that as she felt her power drain out of her through the spot on her back. Cure Poker readied herself to be taken by this monster and enslaved.  
"I'll… stop… you…" She said weakly.

Just before the young man could reach her, something else had drawn his attention. Maybe it was someone attacking him. Maybe it was the Gambling King needing him for something else. Cure Poker couldn't tell. Her strength and energy were all but gone now. Cure Poker let her eyes close, and the sounds of battle faded away.

* * *

Episode 1: _"The Land of Cards in Danger! The Mysterious Transfer Student!"_

* * *

The morning began like any other. Student's piled into Yugaki Middle School's courtyard at 7:15 AM sharp. They still had about fifteen or so minutes before class started, but took their time getting to class once they made it through the front gate. The students were starting their third week of school back from the winter break. But for others, they had been working all winter long for the spring activities. Audrey made her way through the halls of the second floor of the school, her thick, gray-blue hair piled on the top of her head, twisted into a loose bun that bobbed as she walked. She said her good mornings to some of her friends outside of her group of best friends.

After another minute or so of walking, she finally made it to the theatre room.  
"...but I cannot choose but weep to think they would lay him i' th' cold ground.  
My brother shall know of it; and so I thank you for your good  
counsel. Come, my coach! Good night, ladies. Good night, sweet  
ladies. Good night, good night!"

A natural smile spread across Audrey's face as she slid the door open to the theatre room. A girl with blonde hair and a pair of red-framed glasses on her face was walking into the hall.

Kichi liked to keep her exits simple, but effective.  
"Oh! Audrey! You're here! Did you hear that just now? How was it? Did you like it? Do I need to add anything?" Kichi asked excitedly.  
"Perfect as always, Kichi!"  
Kichi ran back into the room, said her goodbyes to the rest of the theatre club, and ran back out to Audrey.

* * *

The two were lucky to be in the same class again. After having known each other since they were in diapers, it was hard to imagine the two girls without one another. Kichi rambled on to Audrey about some parts of the break that Audrey wasn't present for. The two girls made their way down to their classroom, not really paying attention to much around them. The two girls weren't exactly popular, but they were well liked by anyone that they met.

They made it to the classroom just in time for the bell. Kichi power walked to her seat behind a tall girl with cropped, green hair.  
"How perfect is it to sit behind you, Madoka? You're so tall, I can get away with not reading!" Kichi joked.  
Madoka gave a small giggle, but said nothing, the teacher walking in.  
"Stand!"  
The students went through their morning routine before the lesson officially started, though Kawata-sensei amended the situation by adding one piece of information.

"Before we begin class, I'd like to introduce to you our new transfer student. Come in!" Kawata-sensei gestured, and the door slid open. A normal looking girl of fourteen or fifteen stepped quietly through the door, her dark tresses lay straight, and flat. The only spectacle about the girl was a glittering, white diamond hairpiece that held her bangs back.  
"This is-"  
"Oshiro Yui." The girl, now named Yui, cut off the teacher.  
"Hehe! She's more bold than you are, Madoka!" Kichi whispered.  
"Hush, Kichi. Listen to the girl's self introduction."

But Oshiro Yui made no self-introduction. Kichi kept her eyes on the girl, it didn't seem like it was because she simply didn't want to. No, it seemed like she couldn't. Kichi kept her eyes on the girl's face, noticing how expressionless it was. No, it wasn't completely expressionless. Kichi had trained herself to read people's faces, being a theatre junkie. The girl had an air of confusion, a look of being lost on her face.

* * *

Sharp, a young boy with green-black hair stood in the middle of a black and white casino room. It was small, though it could have been bigger. Everything was cloaked in shadows. However three lights were shining in the room. One light was directly above a casino table, where two people sat, one woman and one man. The other two lights were shining over two empty areas.

One more person, a young man, was standing in the small half circle of a hole, dealing out a hand of black jack.  
"Man, you guys are playing another game of blackjack? Doesn't that get old?" He asked.  
The three other people said nothing. The woman brushed her fingers through her magenta hair and shot the boy a cold glare with her startling blue eyes.  
"Oh, calm down Sharp. It's the only thing we can do at the moment. The Gambling King hasn't given us orders to go searching for minions yet."  
The woman's voice was cold, indifferent and velvety smooth. Sharp almost wanted to listen to her, her voice was so coxing. He shook his dirty green haired head.  
"No! I'm tired of waiting! I just-"

The boy would have said more, but a black, red and grey playing card slapped his mouth shut. He peeled the card from his mouth, and smirked. As it turned out, he had his orders.  
"Well... I'll see you suckers later. Let's go stir up some mayhem."

* * *

"We have to find Cure Poker~lingu!" Darling, a small pink deer, said.  
"But she could be anywhere~rayray!" Razor, a small blue bird, responded.  
"But we have coordinates! How could we not be able to find her! We're close, I know that much~roro!" Keroro, a green frog, said.

The three fairies flew high above the countryside. They didn't know it, but they were flying over rice fields, far outside the city of Kōunchi. The city was the last known location of a message the three received from their superior, Chula. Chula was the fairy partner to the Land of Card's legendary Cure Poker. Darling, Razor and Keroro were partners in training; hopeful fairies to one day partner with a powerful Pretty Cure Warrior. Darling, the only female of the three, was determined to make it to Kōunchi. They had to. The Gambling King was moving his forces to this place called Earth. And she knew that once Chula took Cure Poker to this place, she would have no way of knowing what was going on back home.  
"We can't give up! We have to tell Chula that this place is in danger~lingu!"

* * *

As it is in the human nature, when the lunch bell rang, all the students flocked to Oshiro Yui. They bombarded her with questions, and the girl only looked at them. Kichi observed the situation from a small distance. Well, as big of a distance as one can get in a middle school classroom. Audrey and Madoka were making small talk next to Kichi. Audrey was talking about a new poem she wanted to write, and Madoka was saying that she should make it about basketball. Audrey was the first to notice Kichi's intense glare at the mob of people.  
"Kichi?"

Audrey followed Kichi's glare to Yui's desk. She could hear the chatter, but she took note that the girl wasn't answering.  
"Why do they keep asking her all these questions? Don't they notice that she's not answering?" Kichi asked. Her voice had a slight harshness to it.  
"Who knows? They're all crazy. I don't know why everyone wants to be the new kid's friend. I feel for Oshiro-san. I remember what she's feeling right now. But I at least made an effort to answer some of the questions you all asked me." Madoka mused.  
Kichi made no answer; she was nibbling fiercely on an octopus hot dog, a fire building up in her eyes.  
"I'm actually surprised you haven't said anyth-" Audrey started.

"HEY! Guys! Can't you see you're overwhelming her?!"  
Kichi finally let her thoughts fly. She forced herself up and out of her desk and walked over to the mob of students around Yui.  
"All right, all right. Break it up."  
"It seems I spoke too soon…" Audrey said, a weak smile on her face as Kichi shooed the student's back to their desks, remarking about how eating was more important than harassing the new girl. The students grumbled at Kichi ruining their fun, but walked back to their cliques and ate regardless. Kichi turned her attention to Yui.  
"Why don't you come sit with us?" Kichi asked.

"Why would I do that?"

Kichi's smile faltered for a second, taken aback by Yui's blunt remark.  
"Well... because me and the other two won't bombard you with questions! We want to get to know you!"

Yui's brows furrowed, trying to understand the request made to her. Nevertheless, the black haired girl stood and walked the short steps over to the window that Kichi, Audrey and Madoka were sitting at. She stood, not understanding that she had an open invitation. Part of her felt like she should know that an invitation had been extended to her, but at the same time, it felt foreign to her. The whole world felt foreign.

* * *

The day soon ended, and the students filed out of the school. Sharp floated high above the crowd of students, surveying them for potential minions. The Gambling King always wanted more lives to risk, more lives to add to his collection, more lives to gamble away to enemies. But not any old person could become a loyal subject to the King.

Sharp's eyes flashed a dark green, scanning the students for any signs of greed. Greed is what Sharp's group, the Card Shark Quartet, needed to exploit for the Gambling King. The students had varying levels of greed. But none of them stood out to him. He then turned his attention to those that were still inside the school building. No outrageous levels there either.

Sharp stared at the black, grey and red card in his hand, a large "A" was on the face side of the card.  
"What's the point of even having this if no one in this town has any greed? There's no way these people can be humans? After what I've heard about them?"  
Sharp continued to scan the crowd in his altered gaze. A student finally filed out of the front door, a bright red in Sharp's vision.

"Perfect."  
Sharp turned himself invisible and floated over to the student. The student was a young boy, apparently in a class with a girl named Kichi. Sharp listened to the boy's thoughts. He wanted Kichi gone, and for him to have all the attention of his classmates. The young boy wanted everyone to be his friend. He wanted to be the one that the new student looked up to.

_'You can have that, you know that right?' _The boy, startled, jerked his head in every direction, trying to find out where the voice had come from. Sharp spoke again.

_'I can make your dreams a reality. Just place all your greed and desire on this card.'_  
The card appeared in the boy's hands, and Sharp disappeared. The Avari would appear in due time. All he had to do was sit and watch.

* * *

The three faires floated through the sky, finally having made it to the city. The citizens of the town looked like small ants from their height. They were warned that humans weren't used to seeing things other than other humans speak, so they had to be careful. By now, each fairy could sense Chula's presence down in the city. They flew to it like a beacon. They flew to a hill in an otherwise deserted park, a single tree sat at the top of the hill.

A young woman in white, puffy clothing stood underneath in the shade. She had fair skin, startling white hair that was brought up into two buns, one on each side of her head. One bun had a golden ribbon holding it together. The girl looked to be about twenty or so years old, for a human that is.  
"Chula-sama! We've finally found you~lingu!" Darling exclaimed. The young woman, looked up with eyes so grey, they almost blended in with the whites of her eyes.  
"So it seems. But I'm rather confused. Why are three fairies-in-training here on earth?" Chula asked.

She had felt the three fairies make their way to the planet. She gave them her location, but their presence had raised many questions.  
"The Queen surrendered the Land of Cards to the Gambling King~rayray!"  
"But apparently it wasn't enough~roro! He wants more minions~roro." Razor and Keroro chimed in.

Chula gave no response, but she noticed Yui walking up to the hill. She told the fairies to hide themselves. Cure Poker's transition to the human world had given her a new persona. One that knew nothing about her origins.  
"Nice to see you again, partner." Yui said nothing. She looked around, looking for an answer, a way out... whatever it was, Chula didn't know.  
The girl was on the verge of saying something when she suddenly doubled forward. She clenched her chest; her breathing became labored. Chula, in a panic, froze. This was the first time something like this had happened. Yui fell to her hands and knees, and soon became a figure of glowing white light.

"There's an Avari awakening."

* * *

Audrey and Madoka had gone to their respective club meetings. Audrey had to present a new poem, while Madoka said that the first game of the season was just around the corner, and practice was all she had time for until then. Kichi didn't mind. She had other things to worry about herself. She made her way to the theatre room. There wasn't a meeting today, but Kichi went to the theatre room everyday to work on the play the club was working on at the time. This semester, the club was working on an adaptation of Hamlet. Kichi wasn't in the room for long before a one of the students in her class burst through the room.

"Huh? Kenta-kun?" The boy didn't say anything. He just stood in the doorframe, giving Kichi a grim look. Kenta kept his gaze on Kichi for what seemed like forever. Kichi looked around the room. She knew no one else was here, but she often came into the room like it was her second home, often ignoring anyone else that might be there.

When Kichi brought her eyes back to the door, Kenta was gone.  
"Well that was weird..." Kichi went back to her preparations, when about half an hour after Kenta left, she heard screams from outside.

The card that Sharp had given the boy appeared in his hands. The "A" on the face was normally white on the grey face. But now it was black. Sharp smirked.  
"AVARI! TAKE YOUR GREED AND FULFILL YOUR DESIRES!" He yelled, throwing the card in front of him.

The card flew about five or so feet in front of the Card Shark before stopping, still spinning in place. The card turned completely black and began to change its shape; smoky black tendrils spread outwards from the black mass. A monster, with the card as its body, thin black limbs protruded at the four corners, the hands ending in red gloves, the feet in red clown shoes appeared. The monster had a black circle for a head, and two red, angry looking eyes struck fear into anyone that looked at them.

"AVARRIII!" It shouted.  
The monster began shooting red beams of energy from its eyes. Sharp floated near the monster, shouting encouragement left and right. No way a Pretty Cure Warrior was going to get in his way.

* * *

Kichi ran down the steps as fast as she could, trying to get out of the building and to somewhere safe. When she made it to the courtyard, she saw the large card monster stomping around the school, shooting laser beams from its eyes.  
"What the heck is that?!"

Kichi didn't expect an answer, but she couldn't help but stare at the monster. The monster turned and set its gaze on Kichi. She froze as she noticed the monster charging up its eyes. No doubt she would have been burnt to a crisp, but a young woman, a girl about the same age as Kichi, slammed into her. Kichi fell to the ground about four or five feet from where she was originally standing. A girl clad in white and pale pink stood before her.  
"Whoa... Hey, thanks for saving... my... butt..."

Kichi's words trailed off as the White Warrior ran off. Kichi watched the girl in pure amazement. How awesome was it that a super hero appearing out of nowhere and just saving her. Three small figures floated down to Kichi. One was a small pink deer, one a small blue eagle, and the last a green and white frog. They looked like animals out of an anime. Kichi saw that they were cheering for a Cure Poker. Kichi's shifted her gaze to the White Warrior. She could only assume that the girl's name was Cure Poker.

"Is... Is she like some sort of Magical Girl?!"  
Kichi also read and watched a lot of anime. She was familiar with the concept of super heroines like the one before her. But the monster was a bit stronger than Cure Poker appeared to have expected. Kichi saw that the girl was faltering. Something was throwing her off.

"Hey! Monster! This way, ya creep!"  
The Avari turned once more to Kichi. It looked confused, but it jumped at the chance to stomp around in a different direction. Kichi ran towards a small empty parking lot not far from the school. The monster followed. She was determined to help the girl. The three flying animals caught up to her. They were asking her questions about what it was she was doing. Kichi didn't answer, but she stood her ground.

"If you want someone to fight, then I'm your enemy!"  
And in that moment, a flash of pink light appeared in front of Kichi. The light faded, and in front of Kichi, there was a two toned pink card in front of her. The actual card was a pale pink, and it had a hot pink heart in the middle.

"Whaaaaaa! That means... That means you're a Pretty Cure~lingu!"

Kichi looked at the pink deer that spoke. A what? Kichi thought. The deer was suddenly surrounded by a puff of pink smoke, and was now a cellphone... Or at least, she looked like a cellphone. She shouted directions at Kichi. Pretty Cure... Card Play? Was that what she said? She took the card, and the speaking cellphone.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
Kichi slid the card through a small opening at the top of the phone. Then, the touch pad lit up with a box with four lines all intersecting in the center of the box. Kichi made a "T" shape, and soon she was surrounded with pink light. Her blond hair glowed with this pink light and shot out of her head, and split into two twin tails. Two ribbons appeared with hearts in the center at the base of these twin tails, sitting right on top of her head. She brought her hands together to make a heart snap. More pink light glowed, and a pale pink ribbon with a hot pink heart jewel pinged into existence on her chest. Strands of darker pink light flew around Kichi's body, and pinged into a top torso part, exposing her stomach. A second set of dark pink strands circled around her waist and hips, and pinged into a short skirt with compression shorts underneath. Two wrist length gloves pinged on her hands, two red-pink hearts sitting on top of her hands. Then she danced around on her feet, and leaned back on her heels as two pink boots appeared around her legs.

She spun around one final time, the small cellphone attaching itself to her waist, and a dark pink bow pinged on the back of her skirt. When all was said and done, Kichi struck a pose and heard herself say something completely strange, but it sounded right to her.

"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"

* * *

_Preview:_

Kichi: Whoa! What just happened to me?  
Darling: You're a Pretty Cure Warrior~lingu!  
Kichi: Pretty… Cure? You mean like that girl in the white outfit? Is she a Pretty Cure Warrior, too?  
Darling: She is a Pretty Cure Warrior! But now's not the time to talk about this~lingu!  
Kichi: Oh! Right! I gotta take care of this monster thing!

Next time on _Pretty Cure Shuffle!_: "The Warrior of Hearts! Cure Trump is Born!"


	2. The Warrior of Hearts, Cure Trump!

Kichi, or, Cure Trump looked down at her new, transformed appearance.

"Whaaa...? I've... transformed?!"

Cure Trump twirled around, trying to get a full glimpse of what she had become.

"What are you doing?! Get out of the way! You're going to get hurt." A voice from behind her said. Trump stopped moving to see the White Warrior make her way over. Trump cursed under her breath. How could she have forgotten about the monster problem? Cure Trump turned and ran.

"Okay! I'm running! But... what else am I supposed to do?" The White Warrior didn't respond. Instead, she continued to fight the card monster. Trump marveled at how high the girl could jump, how powerful her punches could be. Could she do that too? Trump didn't have time to test out what her transformed self had given her. The monster had directed his gaze on her and shot another round of eye beams. Trump turned and ran once more.

* * *

Episode 2: "The Warrior of Hearts! Cure Trump is Born!"

* * *

"Can you do anything but run?" The girl in white scolded. Trump was about to make a comment, but the girl was no longer paying attention. She was gearing up for something else.  
_"Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!"_ As the girl said he first half of her little speech, orbs of white energy appeared around her. Some were solid masses of white energy, others were transparent enough to see "P"s in the middle of them. The orbs flew forward, but the monster was one step ahead of the girl in white and had charged up another attack of eye beams. Red energy met white and an explosion was the result. Trump covered her eyes from the dust that was now floating around her. When the dust had settled, she could see the Poker Barrage girl fighting once again.

"Poker... Barrage?"

"That's Cure Poker's way of attacking and purifying Avaris~lingu!"

Cure Trump had almost forgotten that there was a small deer in the form of a cellphone attached to her hip.

"Do I have one of those?"

"Of course you do! But I don't know what it's called. You have to figure that out for yourself~lingu!"

Of course she had to figure it out for herself. Cure Trump decided that it was time to stop standing around. She readied herself, angling her feet and spreading her legs apart. She burst forward with a sudden rush of power. Trump couldn't believe she had this kind of power now. Instantly, it was as if a ghost of a professional fighter took over her body. She was landing kicks and punches like she had been doing it all her life. Trump dodged some of the throws the monster would take at her. But the ghost knew how to deflect and protect herself from them. However, Trump was extremely new to this. She didn't see the second fist come towards her and knock her back into the pavement below.

"Ouch..." Trump lay flat in a small crater on the ground. This monster was tough, and she was getting fed up. It was time to end this, once and for all. The small cellphone creature was shouting at Cure Trump now.

"You can do it now~lingu! Attack the Avari with your purification attack~lingu!" Darling floated in front of her. Trump wasn't sure how, but she knew what to do. She nodded her head, grabbed Darling, the track pad aglow. She drew a cross in the square, the lines golden.

_"I'll show you my trump card!"_ She shouted. She clapped her hands together and laced her fingers together. Her hands also began to glow with pink light. She extended both her index fingers, making the signature hand gun so many knew. She thrust her arms forward and shouted: _"Trump Shot!"_

The pink light concentrated into a small orb at the tips of her index fingers before flying forward, the recoil causing Cure Trump's arms to rise above her head. The shot of pink energy flew towards the monster and landed square in the middle of the card body. The whole monster glowed with pink energy before imploding, pink smoke flying everywhere. Kenta, the boy Trump had encountered earlier, lay on the ground, his eyes closed, but his chest rising up and down to signal to Cure Trump that he was alive. A red, black and grey card flitted down to the ground. And when it did, it burned to ashes the moment it touched the pavement.

The White Warrior landed a couple feet from Cure Trump's spot on the ground.

"Nice job... For a new girl."

Trump jerked her head in the girl's direction.

"That was amazing! But... what exactly just happened? Who is Cure Trump? Is that me? And what was that thing? What did I just do with my hands? And wait... Who are you?" The questions flew out of Cure Trump's mouth before she could take control of her thoughts and bodily control.

"You see that little deer on your waist? She can answer all of those questions. I have to go." Trump's brows furrowed. She didn't like not getting an answer. She opened her mouth to give the girl in white a piece of her mind before the girl in white turned to face her.

* * *

So Kichi was something called a Pretty Cure Warrior. Kichi stared at the text in front of her, not paying attention to the lecture. All she could think of was the conversation she had with the small deer fairy, named Darling, the night before.

_"You're a Pretty Cure Warrior! I'm from the Land of Cards! The Gambling King has taken over our land! And we need you to help us get it back~lingu!"_

Of course, Darling's friends had to stay with Kichi. Kichi learned that all three of these faires had the power to partner a Pretty Cure Warrior. They were apparently still in training, but Kichi's experience with Darling made her think she was ready for it. Still, it was a duty that Kichi wasn't sure she could handle.

"Abe-san!" Kichi snapped out of her trance and jerked a little in her seat. The teacher had apparently called her name a number of times before using a sharp tone.

"Please, read the passage for us."

* * *

"Look, I've told you. That pest Poker was there. And then another one showed up!"

Sharp was the youngest of the group, and was always being picked on by his group. But suffering a loss on his first attempt? He had to stand his ground.

"That ain't no excuse! You gotta get back out der and get a minion for da Gamblin' King!"

Sharp's murky green eyes rested on the hulking figure of Cas. Cas was the closest thing Sharp had to an older brother, but the feeling was far from loving. Swindla, the woman with magenta hair, said nothing, opting to primp her features in a small hand mirror. Rounder, the Card Shark's leader, stood behind the casino table and shuffled cards quietly as the others spoke. Sharp was most worried about what Rounder would say. Cas may have muscle and power, but that's all he's got. Rounder had brains with his already extraordinary power. Rounder kept his cool, however.

"So then, Sharp," Sharp gulped. Rounder's voice was unnervingly calm and steely. The young man's piercing blue eyes rose from the deck of cards that he was absentmindedly shuffling. "Go and try again."

Rounder threw another black, grey and red card at Sharp, and Sharp disappeared.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay, Kichi? You were acting weird in class today."

Kichi, Audrey and Madoka walked down a sidewalk, heading to their usual after school café hang out called Tea Card. Kichi was staring down at her bag. Inside held one of the biggest secrets she'd kept from her friends.

"I don't know. I just woke up in a weird mood this morning, I guess."

Audrey shot a glance at Madoka, both girls nodding.

"Well, maybe you need some tea and cookies to feel better."

The girls entered the shop, having beaten the after school rush by minutes.

"Ah, there's my favorite middle schoolers!"

A girl of about seventeen, with dark purple hair and eyes, walked up to the front of the shop.

"Hey Hoshiko-senpai!"

"Usual table?" She asked.

The girls all nodded and Hoshiko took them to their usual spot, a table situated near the front, but in a corner of two large windows.

"Come on Kichi. Tell us what's going on. We only want to help."

The girls ordered their usual teas and something to eat from Hoshiko: a plate of cookies for Kichi, a scone for Audrey and a protein bar for Madoka. The food and drinks arrived, and Kichi still hadn't said much to her friends. She stared at her plate of cookies, a conflict warring inside her. Kichi comically put her hands on her head.

"Gaaaah! I don't know if I can tell you!" Kichi exclaimed, slamming her head into the table. "Ouch... Look. All I know is that something... serious happened and I don't know if I'm at liberty to discuss it!" Kichi's words were muffled, her face still on the table. Audrey and Madoka sipped their tea, exchanging looks.

"Then don't tell us." Audrey said simply.

"Don't say that! Because now I really want to tell you!" Kichi cried.

"Then tell us!" Madoka said sternly.

"I don't know if I can!"

* * *

Sharp once again was out and about, scouring the city for a greedy person to manipulate. He focused on a different area this time. The school was hardly any luck the first time. He needed a person with a stronger greed. A greed preferably for money was too easy a target but it would do. Sharp preferred a greed for power, however. Adults would make perfect suspects for this. In the heart of the town, there were people with much stronger greed levels.

But there weren't many that were stronger than the boy he found the day before. He flew around lazily after half an hour of searching and having no luck. He floated around a small teashop next to a large skyscraper. A man of seemingly extreme power was about to walk into the shop. Sharp jerked into an upright position, the greed level from the man the strongest he'd had all day.

He once again turned himself invisible and followed the man before he entered the shop.

"I can give you everything you want. I can give you more than what you have. Just take this card and place all your greed and desires into it. It will give you what you want."

The card had an instantaneous effect. Once Sharp placed it in the man's hand, he at first looked confused, but a flash of bright red light triggered a transformation.

"AVARI! TAKE ALL YOUR GREED AND FULFILL YOUR DESIRES!"

When the light had settled, a large briefcase monster, with the same black limbs and red gloves and shoes, stood. It had two large, glowing red eyes on the side, and a red and black "A" sat in-between it's eyes.

"GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY! GIVE ME ALL YOUR WORKERS! GIVE ME ALL YOUR LAND! MORE! I NEED MORE!" The monster shouted, sending all the civilians into a panic.

* * *

Kichi spit her tea out when she saw the giant briefcase monster stomping around outside the tea shop.

"Everyone out of the shop now! Get somewhere safe!" Hoshiko shouted from the front of the shop.

"Kichi, we need to go!" Audrey took Kichi's hand, but Kichi had no choice but to pull it out of Audrey's grasp. It pained her to see Audrey's confused, hurt look on her face.

"You guys get out! I'll... uh… I'll help Hoshiko get people out of the shop!" But Kichi had no intention of helping Hoshiko. It sounded like something she would normally say, so she wasn't worried about Audrey or Madoka not believing her. But she had to get out of the shop to transform. Darling made it very clear that she had to keep her identity a secret. Once she got partners, she'd have people to talk about being a warrior with. But the only other warrior was Cure Poker, and she disappeared after their first battle. And it was clear that Poker didn't to do much with Kichi.

Kichi rushed towards the back, through the empty kitchens, and burst out of the back door into an empty alley. She took a deep breath, taking Darling in her cell phone form, out of her pocket.

"Are you ready~lingu?" Kichi closed her eyes for a second and took in a second deep breath.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"

* * *

The briefcase monster continued to stomp around the streets surrounding the tea shop and other skyscrapers. This monster didn't have laser beam eyes. Instead, it opened it's laches, opened up and let loose giant sheets of paper that exploded when they hit the ground.

"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"

Sharp jerked his head of dirty green hair in Trump's direction.

"Damn. She's here. Of course she's here."

"Hey! Mr. Briefcase! Stop destroying things!" Trump said, trying her best to sound like the superhero she was.

The Avari turned towards Trump, a small expression of confusion on his face. He then opened up his front half, and fired more sheets of exploding paper at her.

"What were you expecting to do with just saying that~lingu?!" Darling exclaimed from Trump's waist. Cure Trump spun on her heel and ran in the opposite direction of the exploding paper.

"I don't know!" Trump admitted. As she ran, not thinking to try and zigzag her way away from the monster, Trump began to wonder where the other warrior was. Cure Poker was nowhere to be found.

Not having much choice, Cure Trump finally thought to try and get out of the monster's way. She jumped straight up, and arched backwards over the monster, landing behind it. She ran up to the Avari, wanting to test out her new strength that she gained as a Pretty Cure Warrior. She began attacking the Avari; punching him in various spots, kicking him in different areas. But her attacks only seemed to bother him. He let loose a flurry of exploding paper. They hit Trump this time, sending her flying backwards into a wall. She was beginning to realize why there was more than just one Cure Warrior. She continued to survey her surroundings. The White Warrior was still nowhere to be found. Trump had to accept the fact that Cure Poker would not be coming to her rescue today. Today, it was just her and the Avari.

"You know... You're supposed to be this big, bad, powerful warrior. But you're being tossed around by this guy like a rag doll! You're no warrior! You should be ashamed to call yourself a Pretty Cure Warrior!"

Trump, struggling to get herself upright from the hole in the wall she created, flashed her golden eyes in Sharp's direction. "Hey! Don't you dare insult me!"

Sharp was on the verge of saying something else when he heard Trump's response. He stopped and focused his attention on her, motioning for the Avari to pause for a short while.

"I wouldn't sell me short just yet, you jerk! I beat you yesterday didn't I? Who's to say I can't beat you again?!" Trump finally pushed herself out of the hole and dusted herself off. She hadn't heard much of this guy talk, but what he had said had already made her not like him. Her golden eyes burned with a determination to defeat the jerk floating a few yards away from her. Trump sprung into action, once more taking on the Avari monster.

"Pretty Cure Punch!"

Trump let her determination and anger free as she attacked the monster. She could tell she was wearing it down. The exploding paper came less and less often; the monster began to stagger backwards, trying its hardest to retreat from her. She could tell she was winning. It was time to finish this. She pulled Darling out from her waist, and drew a golden cross on the track pad on the phone's cover. Her pink heart gem resting on her chest glowed with pink energy.

_"I'll show you my trump card! Trump Shot!"_ Trump clapped her hands together, lacing her fingers together, leaving her index fingers extended. Her hand gun began to glow with pink energy, eventually leaving her hands and forming a pink energy orb on the tips of her index fingers. As she said "Trump Shot" the energy ball flew forward, the recoil sending Trump's arms above her head.

The pink energy bullet hit the monster square in the center, and came out through the back.

"Ava... Avari!" The monster said weakly. It then became a pink version of itself, and imploded with pink smoke. When the smoke cleared, the businessman was laying on the ground, unconscious. The card floated down to the ground and burned into ashes on contact. Another monster down. The destruction that was made by the monster disappeared in a flash of white light. Trump let out a relieved sigh. There was no one around, so she let her transformation unravel.

"Boy, I hope it isn't like this every day."

* * *

Cure Poker stood atop a tall building, overlooking the battle below. She turned her head slightly to the small white mouse resting on her shoulder.

"She's not bad, actually. But she's not ready to partner up with me. She needs to find the rest of her team first."

Chula said nothing, but nodded her small white head.

"But you'll join her eventually... right~de chu?" Chula said after a short while. Poker said nothing.

"Poker, you can't beat the Gambling King on your ow-"

"I can try."

Chula got that the discussion was over. Poker jumped off the ledge she was standing on. She could feel her human consciousness trying to force it's way back to the surface.

* * *

The craziness of getting people out of the shop had left Audrey exhausted for a short while. However, when the explosions started, Hoshiko had told Audrey to stay indoors. Madoka had been outside, and left with the other people. Hoshiko hid in the kitchen, while Audrey decided to boldly stay in the front portion of the shop. Surprisingly, none of the monster's attacks hit the shop, but the explosions caused everything inside to rattle and shake. Some cups and plates had fallen off the now empty tables. Glass littered the floor, forcing Audrey to stay near the window that the girls were sitting at just ten or so minutes earlier. It had been a wild, crazy, and long ten minutes. When Audrey dared to look out the window once more, she saw a girl, with long, bright pink hair, decked out in a pink outfit. Audrey thought she belonged in a cartoon or an anime. Yet she watched the fight with fascination.

The fight went on for a while. Audrey flinched when the girl was thrown around. Before the battle ended, she was flung into a wall next to the shop. Audrey saw a boy with green hair floating in the air, his mouth moving, but too far away for Audrey to even hear the mumble of his words. She turned her attention to the girl next to her, and heard muffled calls of motivation. She finally finished the fight, the boy disappearing and the monster returning to his original form. What happened next caused Audrey's jaw to drop.

"Kichi?!" Audrey burst through the front door of the shop, disbelief written all over her face. Kichi stiffened, turning slowly towards Audrey's voice.

"Uuh. Audrey! H-how much of that did-did you see?"

Audrey gave no answer, words unable to form on her lips. The fact that her best friend just took down some monster with magical powers was more than too much for Audrey to take in.

"A-all of it?" Kichi asked sheepishly, putting her hand on the back of her head as a nervous smile spread across her face. Audrey, still stunned, slowly nodded her head. She fought her current state of mind to try and form words. Kichi didn't seem to be willing to give her any explanations either.

"Is that…? Is that what you were t-trying to tell us at the table?"

Kichi's smile faded. She gave a short nod. She brought the cellphone in her hand up for Audrey to see.

"This is Darling. She says she's my partner. Apparently I'm something called a Pretty Cure warrior now..."

* * *

Preview:

Audrey: So… You're a warrior? Is that right?

Kichi: Yup! I'm pretty sure!

Darling: There's no pretty sure~lingu! You are a warrior~lingu!

Razor: And we need to get a team assembled~rayray!

Audrey: Can I be apart of the team?

Kichi: Sure! Wait… What?!

Next time on _Pretty Cure Shuffle!_: "The Elegant Fighter! Audrey Joins the Team?!"


	3. The Elegant Fighter, Cure Royal!

It had been a couple days since Kichi's last fight with an Avari. Audrey had become Kichi's confidant. Since that day, Audrey found out about Darling, Razor, Keroro, Cure Poker and the Land of Cards. It was a lot to take in, but it was giving her some inspiration for poems. There weren't ones she'd ever read aloud to the Poetry Club, but it got her writing, which was always a good thing. Especially since the Poetry Club was about to have their annual Poetry School Reading. It was sort of a way to get new students to join the club. The president of the club was always seen running around, making sure preparations were complete. Audrey and Kichi saw a lot of one another since the Poetry Club had to use the auditorium, and the Theatre Club was still working on their set for Hamlet. The two didn't see much of Madoka either since she was busy with basketball as well.

"So, Kichi,"  
Audrey started, the two on the roof for lunch.  
"I know you've only... transformed twice... but do you like being a Pretty Cure Warrior?"  
Kichi munched on a carrot and looked up at the sky. The three mascots were behind the two girls, nibbling on cookies Audrey had brought for them.  
"I guess you could say I do."  
"What do you mean "I guess"~lingu?!"  
Darling exclaimed, floating in front of Kichi. The partners locked eyes together for a short second before Kichi pushed her glasses up and shrugged her shoulders casually.  
"I mean, like Audrey said, I've only transformed twice! Plus, that Poker chick was pretty rude to me the first time. If I have to partner up with her, I don't know if I'll be able to keep myself from giving her a piece of my mind!"  
Audrey laughed at this. Kichi, being a drama student, tended to deliver heated statements as animatedly as she possibly could.

The door to the roof opened, and Madoka made her way forward. The three fairies scrambled behind Kichi and Audrey and transformed into their cellphone forms with poofs of different colored smokes.  
"Hey guys!"  
Madoka made her way to the bench and scooted in next to Audrey.  
"What were you girls talking about just now?"  
Audrey and Kichi shot nervous glances at one another, unsure of what to say.  
"The... uh.. Poetry School Reading tomorrow! We were talking about which, um, poem I was going to read for it."  
Audrey was a terrible liar. Madoka made a face at Audrey's lie, but decided she didn't want to press the nervous girl.  
"Uh... huh."  
The door opened once more, this time a boy with fiery red hair and a smug look on his face. "Audrey! Did you hear?! There's going to be a publishing representative at the reading tomorrow! Apparently if they like one of us enough, they'll want to publish our story!"  
"No, Ryota-kun. I didn't hear that. But that's amazing that a publisher got wind of our reading!"

"I'll have to write the very best poem for them! So awesome they can't help but choose me! And then they'll want more from me! And I'll become famous! And I'll become rich!"  
The smile that had formed on Audrey's face when Ryota told her about the representative had faded. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her expression became perplexed.  
"Well, that's find and dandy, but you really should be writing to connect with someone. Not think about those material things."  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I can't talk now, I'll have to go get my genius on the page before I lose anything!"  
Ryota started back for the door, but Madoka caught his shoulder.  
"Listen to what she said, jerk. Don't make this about yourself. This is about the school."  
Ryota turned to face Madoka. He was confused at first, but his face lit up with a horrible sense of recognition.

"Y-y-you're Hattori Madoka! Please don't kill me!" The boy said, freeing himself of Madoka's grasp and running back to the door. Madoka smirked, and pat her hands together like she was getting dust off of them.  
"And that takes care of that."  
Audrey and Kichi sat next to Madoka, their faces full of disbelief.  
"Uh... Madoka... what did he mean by that, exactly?"  
Kichi ventured. Madoka sat back down and opened her bento box before turning to the girls on her left. "You two have your secrets. I have mine."

* * *

The mood in the dark casino was tense. Sharp sat in the center of the game table, Rounder lazily shuffling cards. Swindla was sitting on Sharp's left, her face and eyes glued to the compact in her hand. Cas was on Sharp's right, eating a huge plate of ribs. Sharp kept his eyes down, not having looked up from the backs of his palms in what seemed like an eternity.  
"What's the matter, Sharp?"  
Rounder inquired. Sharp kept his mouth shut. He knew Rounder was just looking for trouble. The older teen was about to say something again to get Sharp to speak, but the familiar Avari card flitted down to the table. Sharp broke his concentration on his hands and was about to snatch up the card. But Rounder was faster.  
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not today Sharp. You need some time to get a plan together on how to defeat the Pretty Cure Warriors. Today, Cas gets to go."

Sharp said nothing, but wanted to say everything. Cas, however, hadn't heard Rounder's remark, his attention fully on his plate of ribs. Rounder's mouth twitched upwards, a usual sign for annoyance.  
"CAS!"  
"Huh?"  
"Take this card and go get a minion for the King!"  
Cas finally broke his gaze from his plate and looked up at Rounder; the teen's blue eyes were scary enough to make Cas want to look back down at his plate.  
"Yeah, yeah! 'S my turn now!"  
Cas said, excitedly taking the card from Rounder's outstretched arm. It was his time to shine now. He would do better than Sharp. He had to.

* * *

The rest of the day went by without a hassle. Luckily for Audrey and Kichi, the confrontation with Ryota had caused Madoka to forget about the fact that she wanted to find out about what the girls were talking about. Either that, or she knew she wasn't going to get an honest answer out of the two of them so she didn't try. Audrey was just glad to be back home. She was upstairs, sitting at her desk flipping through her poem notebook to see what poem she wanted to read for the event tomorrow. For reasons unknown to Audrey, the bird fairy, Razor, had decided he didn't want to stay with Kichi anymore. He came home with Audrey instead. He was an interesting creature for Audrey to experience.  
"So what's the Land of Cards like?"  
Razor looked at the girl, deciding on what to say. She could see the small fairy thinking.  
"It's hard to put into words~rayray. But... if I had to... I would say it's a wonderful place with great opportunities~rayray. Kind of like earth~rayray."  
Audrey turned back to her notebook. Something struck with her after Razor answered her. She took her pen out and began to write down everything that she could.  
"What are you doing~rayray?" The small bird asked. When Audrey didn't answer, he decided he would let her concentrate.

The day of the Poetry Reading finally arrived. The school day had finally passed as well. Audrey rushed to the Poetry Club's room, ready to get the final preparations ready for the evening. When she got there, Ryota was running his mouth on how he was going to be the one that get's published. Audrey rolled her eyes, not really wanting to hear him praise himself. If Audrey was honest, his poetry wasn't all that great. Though she would never say it like that. He did have potential, but he needed a lot of work. Kichi and Madoka had made their way to the room as well. Kichi ran up and hugged Audrey from behind.  
"I know you're going to kill it tonight, Audrey! Who cares about Ryota-kun? All you need to do is read your best poem, and that'll shut him up."  
"That guy really bugs me..."  
Madoka said. Audrey embraced Kichi's sudden hug, steadying herself against trying to fall on her face. She smiled. She love it when her friends came and gave her encouragement.  
"Thanks you two. I think I've picked out the right poem too. Razor helped me write it."

Audrey said that last bit of information forgetting that Madoka was around. Her eyes widened, but luckily, Madoka didn't seem to hear it. Audrey let out a sigh of relief as she realized that Madoka was talking to another girl next to them.  
"Ooh. That was close. We need to be careful about that stuff."  
Kichi said, letting go of Audrey.  
"Careful about what?"  
Audrey and Kichi turned to face Madoka, but before either of them could give her a lie, Ryota walked up to them, a smug smile on his face.  
"Are you ready, Audrey? I hope the representative likes yours. But I know she'll like mine too."  
Audrey said nothing. Kichi said nothing. Madoka said nothing. Ryota looked back and forth between the three girls, waiting for them to say something. When they didn't, he awkwardly shuffled his way out of the classroom, heading for the auditorium.  
"Strike what I said earlier. That guy pisses me off."

* * *

Evening was quickly coming, and Cas hadn't done the job given to him twenty-four hours ago. He had managed to blend in with the crowd after magically changing his appearance when he kept getting odd looks. He looked about thirty years old, but his natural outfit was odd. He normally wore a black vest over a white button up, but the sleeves of the button up were ripped off to account for his bulging arm muscles. Oddly, he liked the cuffs, so he had ripped those off and placed them around his wrists. To finish off his look, he had a pair of dark orange pants, and a mohawk of orange hair to match. Apparently, that was too much for some. He had a plate of food in his hands as he walked around the lobby of the school he found. There was a reading going on at this school, and Sharp had told him this was where Cure Trump attended. He scanned the crowds of people around him, looking for a greedy person to take advantage of.

It didn't take him long. A boy with fiery red hair had made his way into the lobby, a smug grin on his face. Cas didn't need to look at him through what he liked to call "Greed-o-vision." This boy had something on his mind that made him think he was better than everyone else. He made his way over.  
"Whatchu smiling about, boy?"  
"Huh? Who are you? Look, old man, if you're not with the publishing company, I don't want to hear about it."  
Luckily, Cas was quicker on his feet than his group members would think.  
"Yeah, yeah. I am with the publishin' company."  
The boy eyed him suspiciously. Cas couldn't tell what he was thinking, but eventually the boy lightened up and smiled.  
"I thought you were going to be a woman, but hey! If you'll get me published, then I'm all for it!"  
Cas took out the card from his pocket.  
"This is my business card. Just place all your desires onto it."  
Ryota took the card, and the magic embedded in it began to work instantly.  
"AVARI! TAKE ALL YOUR GREED AND FULFILL OUR DESIRES!"

In a flash of dark red light, Ryota disappeared, and was replaced with a monster that consisted of five feather pens. The largest one made up the body, with the feather having the appearance of hair. The other pens made the arms and legs. It had two glowing red eyes on the wood of the body pen, and a white A just above them.  
"AVARI!"

* * *

"Kichi! Audrey! There's an Avari~lingu!"  
"Are you serious?!"  
Kichi said.  
"Here? Now? Why?"  
Audrey hissed.  
"I don't know~rayray! Kichi! You need to transform~rayray!"  
Kichi and Audrey looked at one another and nodded. Audrey ran for the lobby, leaving Kichi behind in the deserted Poetry Club room. Audrey heard Kichi shout her transformation phrase, running as fast as she could to the lobby. When she got there, the pen monster was smashing into walls, breaking everything. The people inside had cleared out for the most part, some of them still running for the doors, trying to get out.  
"Hurry everyone! You need to get out of here! It's not safe!"  
Audrey ran for the doors and gestured for people to get out. Most of them made it, some were trapped behind the monster, too frozen in fear to run forward. That's when Trump arrived. Audrey felt a little better when she saw her now pink haired friend burst out into the scene.  
"Hey! You just never stop do you? I'm starting to get ann-wait. You're not the guy from before!"

Trump had made a stance to get ready to fight when she realized that the guy from the past two times hadn't shown up.  
"So what if I ain't da guy from before! Alls I'm trying to do here is do my job, ya brat! Avari! Attack!"  
"I'M GOING TO BE FAMOUS! GIVE ME ALL THE MONEY! GIVE ME ALL THE DEALS!"  
The pen monster extended its arms down, the tips of the fountain pens aimed at Cure Trump. They glowed with purple light before shooting purplish black ink at Cure Trump. Trump, knowing she had the ability to do so now, backflipped out of the way and to safety.  
"Ha! You're going to have to do better than that!"  
The large puddle of ink began to steam, and soon it was now a few inches deeper into the floor.  
"Oh.. It's acid ink."  
Trump said, her smug expression fading. The Avari shot another spout of acid ink towards her, and she barely had enough time to get out of the way, she was so transfixed with the acid.  
"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!"  
She exclaimed, running away from the steaming blob of inky death behind her. Luckily, she managed to outrun the acid ink, but the Avari had another attack prepared. The feather portion of his head bent forward, firing quills from his feather at Trump. She deflected some, but others managed to graze her, giving her small red lines up and down her arms.

"Okay! You're starting to get on my nerves!"  
Darling floated up and she made a cross on the trackpad on Darling's phone surface. She clapped her hands together, lacing her fingers, index fingers extended in the hand gun position. Her hands glowed with pink energy.  
"_I'll show you my trump card!_"  
The energy moved from her entire hands to the tip of her fingers, concentrating into a small pink orb.  
"_Trump Shot!_"  
The pink ball flew forward, and Trump's arms shot back above her head. The pink bullet flew towards the Avari...but hit the wall, just left of the monster.  
"...I missed."  
Trump said flatly.  
"You missed~lingu."  
"She missed."  
Audrey said.  
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU MISSED! Avari, take this brat out!"  
The pen monster moved forward to Cure Trump, who in turn turned around and ran.  
"How could I have missed?!"  
She said, her expression comically wild as the Avari chased her. She did her best to avoid volleys of quills and blobs of acid ink, but the Avari was showing to have more stamina than she.

Audrey looked on, wanting to look away after seeing Trump miss her shot. Literally. No matter how embarrassed she felt for Kichi, she felt even more worried about seeing her run hopelessly around the lobby. She didn't know what to do. She knew she wanted to help. She noticed that there were still people on the opposite side of the lobby, the Avari no longer blocking their escape route. Audrey dashed over to them.  
"Please, everyone remain calm! Just follow me and I'll take you to the exit!"  
She turned and heard the people's running footsteps as they followed her to the door. A small girl tripped, and Audrey had to hang back and help her.  
"Come on, I'll help you!"  
"I'm scared, miss!"  
It was then that Audrey realized the Avari and Cure Trump were headed their way. She pulled the little girl into her arms and ran for the exit.  
"Don't be scared. Cure Trump is going to do her best and defeat this thing!"  
She said, letting the girl down and telling her to go through the exit. She shut the door when Trump slammed into the wall next to her. Audrey's eyes widened in horror. Her best friend was getting tired. She could see it. She had to help. She ran in front of Cure Trump, arms extended.  
"I won't let you hurt Cure Trump any longer!"  
"Oh? An' wass a girl like yerself gonna do 'bout it?"

Audrey didn't have much of an answer, but she knew if she gave Trump some time to regain her composure, it would be enough.  
"I... I don't know! I may not be able to transform like Kichi, but I know that even as just a normal civilian, I can try my hardest to save my friend!"  
"Audrey..."  
"So if you want to get to Kichi, you'll have to go through me!"  
Audrey shouted. Suddenly, a flash of blue light appeared in front of Audrey. It concentrated and pinged into a blue and white card, a blue spade on the front, a blue bar code on the side. She took the card, not really knowing what it was, but it seemed right to her that she took it.  
"That's a Pretty Cure Card~rayray! You can use it to transform~rayray!"  
Audrey turned to the small blue bird. But he wasn't a bird anymore, he was a cellphone creature, like Darling. She took Razor into her hands. She was a Pretty Cure Warrior too? She could transform just like Kichi? Audrey heard Razor tell her what to do to transform. It was the same thing Kichi said. Her awed expression turned into tight determination. She would do it. For Kichi.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
She slid the card through the top of the phone, and made an "R" shape on the trackpad. Her transformation had begun. Her dark blue hair glowed with light blue light, the bun on her head growing in length, creating a pony tail that split in half. The rest of her hair shot out, and pinged into existence as a blue-ish white color, the hair splitting in half as well. When it settled, her hair was waist length. A bow pinged into existence at the top of her head, holding the pony tail together, and two dark blue spade earrings pinged onto her ears. A single strip of blue light spiraled around her torso, tightening, and then pinging into a dress. She took her hands and placed them over her chest, making her hands into an upside down heart, looking like she was making a spade figure. A white bow with a dark blue spade gem appeared in a flash of white-blue light. She flung her arms around, two elbow length, white and blue arm warmers appearing. On the back of her hand, two dark blue spades could be seen. She spun around on her toes, sliding an extended left leg backwards, and two white ankle height booties appearing. She spun around, Razor in his cellphone form attaching himself to her waist. Lastly, two bows appeared on both sides of her hips. After a bit more spinning around, she struck a pose.

"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
Light faded around Cure Royal. Cure Trump looked on in total amazement, her golden eyes gleaming with excitement. Cas was dumbfounded.  
"Wh-what da heck? There are two frickin' Pretty Cures?"  
Cure Royal looked up at Cas.  
"How dare you try and ruin the school's Poetry Reading! You've wrecked our lobby! You've ruined a fun night for everyone! Prepare yourself!"  
Cure Royal sprang instantly into action. She couldn't help but notice how much she actually wanted to be a Pretty Cure Warrior. She found herself overjoyed with the fact that she could move at the pace she could. It was like she was the wind itself. The Avari was fast, but Royal was faster. She moved side-to-side, dodging the Avari's advances. She jumped up, kicking it in various areas, punching it where she knew it would be effective. One final kick to what could only be assumed was the monster's chest, and he was sent flying.  
"More importantly, how dare you exploit a young man's dreams of wanting to write amazing poetry, and using it to beat up my best friend. I won't let you get away with this!"

By this time, Trump had managed to regain her footing and stood, grasping Royal's hand.  
"This night was important to Audrey! It's one of her favorite nights of the school year. And you had to show up, and just make it awful. We won't forgive you for this!"  
Cures Royal and Trump ran forward once more, ready to take down the monster together.  
"Double Pretty Cure Punch!"  
Both Cures jumped up and punched Cas in the chest. He too flew backwards, landing on top of his Avari.  
"Gah! I won't let you get away with this! Avari get up and crush those girls!"

Cure Royal turned to Trump. She took Trump's hand.  
"Cure Trump," She placed her other hand on their hands.  
"I may not fully understand what's going on right now. But let's finish this!"  
Trump's smile grew from ear to ear. She nodded, the two letting go of one another and taking a fighting stance. They both charged at the Avari, which had just gotten back on its feet. It shot out more acid ink at the girls, and both moved in perfect unison out of the way. Trump felt reenergized knowing that her one of her best friends had become a Pretty Cure Warrior. She punched and kicked at the Avari while Royal did her best to make sure Trump didn't get hurt. After a while, Razor spoke up to Royal. "The Avari has weakened~rayray! Now's your chance to purify it, Royal~rayray!"

Razor had floated up to Royal, his trackpad lighting up. Royal took him in her hand and made the cross on the trackpad. The spade jewel on her chest glowed, and she crossed her arms over it, the spades on the back of her hands glowing with blue light. Blue energy and wind surged around her. She spun around, waving her arms, while saying:  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy!_"  
She raised her hands above her head, and flung them outwards, level with her shoulders.  
"_Royal Breeze!_"  
A circle of curved, white blue lines appeared and flew towards the Avari. The wind energy hit the Avari square in the chest, and began to blow furiously all around it. It turned a light shade of blue, and exploded in the same light blue smoke. Ryota fell to the ground, unconscious. The card flitted to the ground, and when it touched the carpet, it burned into ashes on the spot. Cas was nowhere to be seen, and the wreckage that the Avari had caused disappeared with the appearance of a ray of light from above.

* * *

The poetry reading went on as planned. The people that had escaped seemed to have forgotten all about the incident earlier. Audrey was the last to go, and when she finished her poem, everyone clapped. The whole of the poetry club came out, and everyone stood and clapped. Audrey headed back to the Poetry Room, surprised to find Kichi, Darling, Razor and Keroro there.  
"Audrey, your poem was beautiful!"  
"Thank you Kichi! I'm glad you liked it! Razor helped me write it!"  
Razor blushed and turned his back to the girls.  
"It wasn't that big of a deal~rayray."  
He said, rubbing his foot in the chair he was standing on. The girls laughed.  
"So! Audrey! You're on my team! I never would have expected that!"

Audrey smiled. She wasn't sure what to think about it, but she at least knew that after seeing Kichi become a warrior, something about the whole thing made her want to be one too.  
"I'm glad we're on a team too! I hope we can do our best to save the Land of Cards! By the way, Keroro, aren't you supposed to have a partner too?"  
Audrey and Kichi turned to the green and white frog sitting on a chair with Darling. The frog looked down sheepishly.  
"I haven't found her yet~roro. I hope I can find her soon~roro!"  
Kichi bent down and picked the frog up, placing him on her shoulder!  
"Okay, team! Our new mission is to find Keroro's perfect partner! All in agreement, say 'aye'!"  
Audrey, Kichi, Darling, Razor and Keroro all thrust their fists into the air, all saying aye.


	4. The Burning Cure Straight!

Sneakers were screeching on the recently waxed floor. Shouts were being called and the "pang" of a basketball filled the practice gym.  
"I'm open!"  
Madoka called. Her teammate tossed the ball her way. Madoka caught the ball and instantly ran in the opposite direction, making sure that she was dribbling the ball as she did so. She was stopped as one of her other teammates ran in front of her. She stopped, clutched the ball with both hands and scanned the floor for possible openings. Her forest green eyes shot to the basket hanging above the floor. She was too far away to make a shot. She would have to pass to someone else. She tossed the ball over the teammate in front of her. A different teammate caught the ball, one that was on her mini-team for this particular scrimmage, and ran for the basket.  
"Shoot Himeko-chan!"  
Madoka ran for Himeko, trying her best to make sure that her scrimmage mate had a clear shot, the other girl jumped up, and the ball fell through the basket with a "shwoop." The coach blew her whistle, telling the girls that the scrimmage was now over.  
"Great scrimmage girls! Remember, the first game of the season is this Sunday! It's Friday today. I want you all to know that these next two practices will be a bit more rigorous! I want this season to start off with a bang, win or lose! Got that?"  
The girls all shouted "YES COACH!" and the coach dismissed them. Madoka let out a sigh of relief.

"This scrimmage was intense. I wonder how much more rigorous these practices can get."  
"Way to go Madoka!"  
Madoka looked upwards and smiled. Kichi and Audrey had been sitting the bleachers. They probably had cheered for her, but she was too in the zone when she played to have noticed them. But still, even if it was just a practice, Madoka was grateful for her friends' support.  
"You play with such passion, Madoka. It's really fun to watch you play."  
Audrey said.  
"Thanks Audrey. You guys want to head over to the café? I think we've still got sometime before I have to be home."

* * *

Yui stood on the hill overlooking the park. A breeze dragged her black hair across her face. The mysterious young woman with white hair stood next to her.  
"You still don't remember anything?"  
Chula asked. Yui closed her eyes. She felt like there was something missing. She couldn't remember anything up until the day she woke up looking into the yellow eyes of the woman next to her.  
"No."  
She said. The young woman on her right said nothing. They didn't have a home. Though Yui wasn't quite sure what homes were. Everything about this world seemed strange and foreign to her. It was as if she belonged somewhere else. And it didn't help that she couldn't remember anything.  
"What is it I'm supposed to remember? I feel like I'm on the verge of remembering something, but anytime I get close to an answer, it slips away."  
The young woman with yellow eyes remained frustratingly silent. Yui turned to look at her, but the young woman looked ahead. Yui's burgundy eyes hardened.  
"I thought you were supposed to be helping me."  
Chula turned to Yui.  
"I'm sorry. But I can't help. I wish I could. I'm your protector, and I'm failing."  
Chula's expression melted from thoughtful to sorrowful. Yui's eyes softened. The woman next to her seemed deeply upset that she couldn't help.  
"I guess it's not your fault though. I guess this is just one puzzle that I'll have to solve myself."

* * *

"Hmm... Three attempts and no souls have been reaped? This is not the kind of results I was expecting, Rounder."  
Rounder keept his blue eyes locked with the small pebble he'd been staring at for what seemed like forever now.  
"I'm sorry, my King. The Pretty Cure-"  
"The Pretty Cure? What is that?!"  
Rounder gulped.  
"They're annoying pests that keep getting in the way. We'll take care of them. I promise."  
Rounder knew better than to look up. He could feel the King's eyes burning into the spot of his head that was facing the King. The Gambling King was silent for a few moments.  
"I hope you can live up to that promise, Rounder. Now go."  
Rounder hadn't realized he had held his breath while waiting for the King to speak. He closed his eyes, and stood.  
"Yes, Your Highness."

Rounder spun on his heel and left the throne room. When he exited, he found the magenta head of Swindla leaning up against a pillar in the hall.  
"Hmm... I was expecting you to come out looking worse. Though,"  
Swindla said, pushing off of the pillar.  
"Be careful not to get silver hairs, Rounder. That wouldn't look good with such a young face."  
Swindla teased. Rounder said nothing, but his expression was enough to silence Swindla.  
"Prepare yourself, Swindla."  
Rounder said, reaching into his vest and taking out a black, red and white card.  
"It's your turn, now. Cas hasn't returned from his attempt."  
Rounder finally faced Swindla.  
"Don't screw this up."  
Swindla took the card with a disinterest. She didn't say anything, but her red lips curved upwards as she disappeared in a flash of black flower petals.

* * *

Kichi and Audrey were sitting at Kichi's coffee table in Kichi's room, quietly doing their homework. Luckily for them, an Avari hadn't attacked them recently. Which also made them worry. What could those people be planning? Kichi thought, staring at her homework. The whole thing was still fairly new to her. How could it not be? She'd only become Cure Trump a little over a week ago. She was grateful for the fact that Audrey had the capacity to transform into a Pretty Cure Warrior. But then came the small green frog that was jumping up and down with the other two fairies on Kichi's bed.  
"Keroro?"  
Kichi started. The fairies stopped jumping and all looked at Kichi. Audrey looked up from her homework as well.  
"How are we supposed to find your partner? I think I got really lucky in Audrey. She found out about me, and wanted to help protect me... But I still wasn't sure how to find a partner before that happened."  
The fairies all were quiet, and Audrey opened her mouth, before closing it, unsure what to say to Kichi.  
"It is a good question~roro. But the only thing I can tell you is that I'll know who to pick as my partner when she presents herself in a moment of dire need. When she finally accepts the fact that she can protect anyone when she puts her mind to it. Kind of like how both you and Audrey reacted~roro."  
Kichi looked down at her homework. That would mean another Avari attack.  
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, Kichi."  
Audrey said. Audrey had a small smile on her face, Razor flapping down onto her shoulder.  
"We made a promise to Keroro to find his partner. We'll start looking for Keroro's partner after school tomorrow. And if we don't find her, there's always Sunday."  
"But Madoka's basketball game is on Sunday!"

* * *

The school day came and went, and the girls went on a look for Keroro's partner. Madoka conveniently had more basketball practice, though the Audrey and Kichi had to act fast, as Madoka said the practice wasn't going to be a long one, and she'd meet them at Tea Card when she was done. Kichi took the group to the mall first.  
"Surely, someone worthy of being a Pretty Cure will be here at the mall."  
"I sure hope so~roro."  
The small green frog looked a little defeated, but Kichi was confident they'd find him his partner in no time. Unfortunately, the mall wasn't that exciting of a place, and the girls left, Audrey taking them to a small flea market not too far from Tea Card.  
"What if we never find her? Then it'll just be you two having to deal with Cure Poker. And she seems like a real... well... She's really difficult~roro."  
Kichi set Keroro down and knelt. She didn't like seeing the small frog fair look so sad.  
"Keroro,"  
She said.  
"We promised you that we'd find you your partner right? Well, I know for a fact that Audrey and I don't break promises. We'll find her. Just stay positive."

The girls continued to look around town for a girl fit to be a pretty cure warrior, but Keroro didn't feel anyone was right enough for his partner. The girls and the fairies were on the way home from Tea Card when Keroro finally perked up.  
"I think... I think my partner was at that café~roro!"  
Audrey and Kichi looked at one another. They exchanged glances, as if they were unsure how to process the information Keroro had just told them.  
"Well, that's great Keroro. I really hope we can find her again."  
Audrey said. She put her best smile on, trying to make Keroro know that they weren't giving up.  
"We'll start at Tea Card right after Madoka's basket ball game."

* * *

The morning of the basketball game arrived, and Kichi and Audrey were one of the first to get to the school's gym. Madoka was on the floor, warming up.  
"Hey! Audrey! Kichi!"  
Madoka said, running over to her friends.  
"So happy you two could make it to the game!"  
"We wouldn't miss this for the world, Madoka!"  
Kichi said.  
"Do your best today, Madoka! We'll be cheering for you!"  
Audrey said, smiling. Kichi high fived Madoka, before Madoka ran back on to the gym floor.  
"I... I think she's here~roro! I don't know where, exactly, but my partner is here, in the gym~roro!"  
Keroro cried. Luckily, not many people had showed up, and Kichi and Audrey didn't have to hide the fairies as much, but his outburst still took them off guard.  
"That's awesome, Keroro. But you've got to stay quieter than that! People are starting to come in."  
Keroro settled into the bag the girls had for the fairies, but he watched the floor with a determination in his eyes, ready to find his partner.  
"I wonder who she could be though."  
Audrey said, eyeing the small crowd in front of them. What if it was a girl from their school? What if it was a girl from the opposing school? Having a teammate from another school district would be a big problem for them. Audrey's eyes settled on the green head of Madoka. Her eyes narrowed. Surely it couldn't be a coincidence that Keroro felt his partner's presence the two times they were with Madoka. She turned to Kichi, and tapped her shoulder.  
"Kichi, I think I know who Keroro's partner might be."

* * *

Swindla walked into the gym, her human guise shielding her from the weird looks she had gotten a day prior.  
"The human's just don't appreciate good fashion sense."  
She scoffed under her breath, looking at all the people in the gym. A fair amount of people had come now, and the gym was beginning to get loud. The whole city was full of greedy people, but Swindla wanted to make sure she found a fresh, new greed. A greed for fame was perfect for her. And the gym was full of it, most of it coming from the stands, but Swindla's eyes landed on a young girl on the gym floor. She had a look on her fact that Swindla love seeing: overconfidence. Swindla smirked.  
"Perfect."

* * *

The game was getting heated, and the score was tied. Madoka stared down the girls from the opposite team, breathing hard. She brushed sweat off of her forehead. Just have to get this next shot, and I know we can turn this around, she thought. The screeching of shoes brought her back to reality. She ran to try and get the ball back in their position. As she ran, she only had eyes on the girl she was trailing. She didn't see the foot stick out in front of her. The next think Madoka new, she was tumbling to the floor, a pain shooting into her shoulder and arm as she hit the hardwood floor.  
"Hey! Are you going to call a foul?"  
Madoka shouted. She heard fans from her school start booing. But the ref didn't call anything. Madoka pushed herself to the floor, and caught her coach's eye. She was signaling for Madoka to come off the floor. She grudgingly made her way to the bench.  
"Did you see that coach?!"  
Madoka exclaimed. The coach tried to calm the girl, but Madoka was seeing nothing but red. Eventually, Madoka sat down on the bench, muttering under her breath.

"Don't give up, Madoka! You'll be able to turn this game around!"  
Kichi cheered. Madoka turned to see her blond friend. Yui had apparently joined them, but she smiled and gave a small nod to her friends.

* * *

Swindla had hung back, not taking a seat in the bleachers. She saw the girl trip Madoka and figured it was the best chance to move. She heard what the girl's greed was saying.  
"_Ha! We're totally going to win this game! No one will be able to beat us this year! We'll be undefeated!_"  
A time out was eventually called, and Swindla made her way to the opposing team. No one questioned her being over there. She casually slipped by, dropping the card into the girl's bag before hanging back behind the bleachers once more. She knew it would be a while before the girl would see the card, but Swindla liked to take her time.

Eventually, the girl decided to pull something out of her bag. She picked up the card, a puzzled look on her face. Swindla, from a distance, activated the card's dark magic.  
"AVARI! TAKE YOUR GREED AND FULFILL YOUR DESIRES!"  
She shouted. Instantly, black and red lights burst from the card, enveloping the girl in dark energy. When the light faded, an Avari made of a basketball basket headboard and arms that ended in basketballs appeared.  
"AVARI! No one will beat us! We'll be number one all year!"

* * *

People scattered, screaming at the monster that appeared as it began to stomp around, and destroy the gym. Kichi turned to Audrey, both girls nodding.  
"Oshio-san! Get somewh- Oshiro-san?"  
Kichi looked around, looking for the transfer student. She was no where to be found. Kichi hoped that the girl got to a safe place. She grabbed Darling, who was now in cellphone form. She ran towards the bathrooms, which was on the opposite side of the exits.  
"Ready, Audrey?"  
"Ready!"  
"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"

* * *

Madoka shot up from the bench, looking in horror at the monster that appeared out of nowhere.  
"Everyone, get to the ex-"  
She started, but everyone was already cleared out, for the most part. A strange woman with really pink hair made her way to the center of the floor. She was shouting something that sounded like "avari." Whatever that meant. It was then that Madoka thought of Kichi and Audrey. She spun around, and was relieved to see that her friends had managed to escape. Madoka tried to run off and follow everyone else, but her body seemed to be frozen in fear at the monster that was now destroying the gym.  
"What am I supposed to do now?"  
She looked around, wanting to find some sort of normalcy. She finally regained control of her body, and was about to run off before two girls, a flash of pink and blue, caught her eyes. They slammed right into the monster in front of her.

One had light pink pig tails, the other had almost white blue hair with a small pony tail that split in half at the top of her head. The rest of her hair reached about her thighs and had split in two parts like the pony tail on her head. The girls fought with a ferocity that Madoka had only seen in cartoons and little kids shows.  
"Wh-what are those girls?"  
It was then that the girl with the pink pigtails saw she was still in the gym.  
"Get to safety Maa-mmmma'am!"  
The girl with pink hair said. Madoka's brows furrowed. It almost sounded like she was about to say her name. Nevertheless, Madoka made for the exits. But the woman with the hot pink hair stood in front of her.  
"You're not going anyway, young lady."  
Madoka stopped running, and started backing away from the strange woman.

She couldn't find her voice. She had no idea what was going on. She heard screams behind her, turned to look and regretted doing so. The girl with the blue hair had been slammed into the wall, and the girl with pink pigtails was being flung around by the basket monster.  
"Cure Trump!"  
She called. Madoka took a small gasp. The voice sounded familiar to her. She then felt a cold, small hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw a small green frog, with an orange sash around his neck.  
"Madoka! You have to fight~roro! You're a Pretty Cure! They need your help! Trump and Royal need you~roro! I need you~roro!"  
"What? Are you a talking frog? What the hell is going on here?! Someone give me some answers!"  
"Later~roro!" The small frog said.

Madoka looked at the two girls still fighting the avari thing. The woman with pink hair wasn't doing anything, though she was shooting daggers at the frog. Madoka took notice of that and took the frog off her shoulder and held him in her arms.  
"You're not going to hurt him."  
"Well, that remains to be seen. But I'm afraid I can't let him do what I think he's about to do."  
The woman charged towards Madoka, and she knew she was in trouble now. Madoka sidestepped the woman, and ran in the opposite direction.  
"Give me some answers now, or I don't see a reason why I shouldn't give you to that crazy lady!"  
Madoka yelled. The frog began to say something, but she couldn't hear him. The monster began firing basket balls from its basketball hands, doing more damage to the gym. Madoka cursed under her breath. A flash of bright green stopped her in her tracks. A green card with a barcode on the side, with a green outline of a club appeared in front of her.

"A Pretty Cure Card~roro!"  
The frog yelled. Madoka was about to grab it before the woman with pink hair snatched it.  
"Well, without this, at least you can't transform."  
Too much was going on for Madoka. She couldn't make sense of the situation. The girl with pink pigtails appeared and started fighting with the woman.  
"Give Madoka her card back! She's meant to fight with us!"  
The girl's voice sounded familiar to Madoka as well.  
"Kichi?! Audrey?!"  
Madoka said, looking from the girl in pink to the girl in blue. They were her best friends, fighting some crazy monster. The strange woman let the card go, and it flitted down before landing on the avari monster. Madoka made a motion for it, but a flash of white appeared in front of her.

"I think you'll need this. Take it, and listen to the frog."  
Madoka stared into the pale pink eyes of the girl that appeared in front of her. She took the card and nodded. Keroro jumped out of Madoka's arms, and a puff of light green smoke later, he was in a cellphone form.  
"Use the card~roro! Slide it through the slit at the top and say 'Pretty Cure! Card Play'~roro!"  
Madoka looked at the card, then back at the talking cellphone. The girl in white had joined Kichi and Audrey in fighting the basketball monster.  
"Ha-how do you know this will work?" She said, her confidence wavering. The frog looked up at her, not letting her doubt feed her fear.  
"Because Trump-san and Royal-san believe in you~roro! I believe in you~roro! Now you just need to believe in you~roro!"  
Madoka went from looking at the card, the phone and the scene before her. For some reason, the three girls couldn't take down the monster. It was too quick, and it played dirty, like the girl it was born from.  
"_Trump Shot!_"  
"_Royal Breeze!_"  
"_Poker Barrage!_"  
The three girls fired their attacks, but the monster dodged all of them, and each attack ended up hitting the girls. Madoka grabbed Keroro and clutched the card hard. She looked up at the woman with hot pink hair, expecting the woman to stop her. Bu she was too involved with the fight to notice Madoka.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
Madoka slid the card through the slit at the top, the box on the track pad glowing. She traced an "S" on the pad. Her clothes had disappeared, and her body was glowing with a soft green light. Her bob cut hair glowed with energy and sprung upwards, curling into a bun. A ribbon attached itself at the bottom of the bun, tying everything together. She punched her hands outwards one at a time, arm warmers appearing on each arm with each punch. The light on her torso intensified, and an upper body piece appeared, along with a skirt. She made a club with her hands and brought her hands over her chest. A dark green club gem appeared on her chest, a lighter green bow appearing on the sides. She round house kicked, boots appearing on her legs. Keroro attached himself to her waist, and a small, light green ribbon appeared on her back side. Finally she struck a pose.

"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"  
The light died down, and Cure Straight stared at everyone who in turn was staring at her. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, so she took a look at herself.  
"Did...Did I just...?"  
She couldn't finish her question. It all seemed too unreal, like a dream. However, she couldn't look at herself for too long as the basketball monster charged her way. Straight held her ground, readying herself. She pushed off one of her feet and charged towards the monster as well. She brought her fist back, and punched forward, hitting the monster square in the area where a stomach would have been. The monster flew backwards with a force that surprised Straight.  
"Whoa..."  
Trump and Royal ran over to her.  
"Wow! Madoka-san! You're... you're a Pretty Cure warrior!"  
Straight didn't have anything to say. And even if she did, Trump threw her arms around Straight's neck, hugging her tight.  
"Yes! We've got a complete team!"  
Trump said.

"AVARI! I'LL CRUSH ANYONE WHO STANDS IN MY WAY!"  
The avari managed to get back on its feet and ran for the girls, firing exploding basketballs. The girls scattered, and began attacking the avari from all directions.  
"Trump! We just need to stall! Straight can take care of this one!"  
Royal yelled. Trump shouted something in response, and the two lead the monster away from Straight.  
"Keroro, what they mean by me taking care of it?"  
"You'll have to be the one that purifies this monster~roro! You can do it, Straight~roro! I know you can~roro!"  
Straight watched her friends attack the monster. It was all up to her now. Keroro floated up towards her, the trackpad glowing. She made traced a golden cross on the screen.  
"_Experience my shuddering hand!_"  
She said, the words just flowing out of her mouth. Her hands were set ablaze with green fire.  
"_Straight Blaze!_"

Straight thrust her hands downward, the fire hitting the ground and snaking towards the avari. Once the green flames touched the monster, it was instantly engulfed. The fire began to glow, and after an explosion of green smoke, the girl from the other team was on the ground, unconscious. The card swayed back and forth as it was pulled down to the floor. When it touched the hardwood, it instantly turned to black ash.  
"You haven't seen the last of Swindla, Pretty Cure!"  
Swindla cursed. She vanished in a flurry of black petals. The three girls returned to their civilian forms.  
"Yay! Madoka! You were our last teammate!"  
The girls began to speak before noticing the White Warrior. The three went quiet.  
"Good job, Pretty Cure. You've managed to partner the three fairies from my homeland. I guess I should start to consider joi-"

Cure Poker lunged forward, clutching her stomach. Kichi shouted, and extended her arm, but Cure Poker began to glow with a blinding white light. When it faded, Yui was standing in her place. Kichi, Madoka and Audrey stood there, speechless.  
"Abe-san? Shinohara-san? Hattori-san? What happened? And why isn't the game going on?"


	5. Yui-san is a Pretty Cure?

"Abe-san? Shinohara-san? Hattori-san? What happened? And why isn't the game going on?"  
The three girls stared at Yui before huddling together.  
"She doesn't remember anything that just happened?"  
Kichi asked  
"Clearly not, Kichi. But it's weird. Why wouldn't she remember being Cure Poker?"  
Audrey said.  
"Girls, I'm still not even sure what's going on, or what just happened."  
Madoka said.  
"No time to explain, Madoka! There are more pressing issues at hand!"  
Kichi said.  
"Kichi!"  
"Sorry. We'll explain everything to you soon. We just need to figure this out."

The girls let go of one another and faced Yui. Any destruction made by the monster had disappeared, and people had started to filter back into the gym, their voices soft with murmurs. Kichi walked over to Yui and lead her back to Audrey and Madoka.  
"Um, everyone left for half-time."  
Kichi lied. Yui's brows furrowed.  
"But half-time was twenty minutes ago. The game should still be going on, should it not?"  
Kichi laughed nervously and looked at Audrey and Madoka for help. Kichi had to admit, for a girl who clearly couldn't remember the fact that she had another personality living inside of her (and also for not seeming to have a good grasp on human things), she apparently knew what half time was and that it just happened twenty minutes ago. The girls stammered for a few moments, only to realize Yui was not paying them any attention anymore.  
"Well, at least we know something about Oshiro-san. She's been a mystery ever since she transferred here."  
The fairies popped up out of the three girls' pockets.  
"I think it's time we took you to someone important~lingu."  
Darling said.

* * *

Madoka's team ended up winning the game after everything returned to normal. The team went to celebrate, but Madoka unfortunately had to leave them. The three fairies lead the girls to a park, while Kichi and Audrey filled Madoka in on what happened earlier that day.  
"So…what you're saying is that…we're like superheroes?"  
Madoka asked.  
"That's the best explanation I can think of. But we're cool warriors because we can kill-"  
Kichi started.  
"Purify~lingu."  
"Purify monsters without having to use mechas or whatever."  
Madoka was silent for a few moments. Kichi and Audrey exchanged worried looks, as if to say they were unsure that Madoka would want to stick with anything. But before they had a chance to get a response from Madoka, the three fairies stopped floating.

They had lead the girls to a secluded hill in the park.  
"I didn't know this hill existed. And I've been to this park since I was really young."  
Audrey said, her voice far away.  
"But this is where our mentor is~rayray! She'll help you guys understand Cure Poker. She's Poker's fairy partner~rayray. Just like we are to you~rayray."  
The girls looked around the hill. One sakura tree stood at the apex. But the hill was abandoned. The girls searched the hill, and a few feet around the hill, but couldn't find anyone or anything.  
"Are you three sure you lead us to the right place?"  
Madoka asked, the three girls walking up the hill to the tree.  
"Oh, I assure you girls, you're in the right place."  
Wind blew sakura petals through the air, and a slim figure rounded the tree. The three girls all looked at one another, baffled to see the young woman standing in front of them. The tree wasn't very thick; they would have seen her standing behind it. But not one of them could find their voices. Not even Kichi.

"Yes, I can help. But not much. I'll give you only the information necessary. The rest will be up to Cure Poker. I'm Chula, by the way."

* * *

The flutter of shuffling cards was the only thing that was heard for the longest time in the empty casino floor. A few more lights had turned on. One was shining over a roulette table, another over a bar, one over circular poker table, to name a few. Rounder stood behind the half circle table, shuffling his cards, his eyes closed as he did so. He could feel the tension from his three co-members. They were quiet, which was smart on their part. After what felt like shuffling his deck of cards a few hundred thousand times, Rounder began dealing two cards. Blackjack was his game. Sharp was twirling a poker chip in his fingers, Swindla was lazily spinning the roulette wheel, and Cas was at the bar, scarfing down more food. The three of them stopped what they were doing and focused on Rounder. Him dealing cards was never a good sign.  
"So,"  
His voice was sharp, harsh, and livid.  
"Not a single soul has been reaped for our King."  
However harsh his voice sounded, he had a conversational mood to what he was saying. He was calm. But he was angry. Never a good combination.

"I took out a warrior once before, like she was nothing."  
The three other members stayed quiet, and Rounder opened his piercingly blue eyes.  
"And you three idiots can't defeat them when they literally just got their powers. Better yet,"  
He said, his eyes now resting on Swindla.  
"One of you made an effort to keep one from transforming. And while it sounds good on paper, the execution was horribly flawed."  
Rounder let his anger get the better of him, and flipped his table over.  
"And like always, I'm the one that has to clean up the messes you three have left for me."

Rounder took a deep breath, and ran his fingers through his bright blue hair, keeping it slicked back as he liked it to be. He disappeared in a flash of blue/black light. The three other members of the Card Shark Quartet all looked at one another, feeling defeated. That much was known, though neither one of them would admit it. The three of them scattered.

* * *

"Chula? Should we know who you are, exactly?"  
Kichi said.  
"Kichi! Don't be so rude!"  
"Don't worry, Royal-san. It's quite okay. I can't expect you three to know who I am. Though I will say, I was just introducing myself."  
Chula said. She looked at the three girls. So much they didn't know. And so much she couldn't tell them.  
"First and foremost, I think it's obvious, but Cure Poker and I are not of this world."  
"I knew it!"  
"Kichi!"  
"What? It's not like this was something really super surprising. Yui-san acts like a lot of things are foreign to her. I would never say it out loud though, but it does make sense!"  
Audrey didn't say anything. It wasn't like she could argue with Kichi. Madoka chimed in.  
"So what happened, then? What are you doing on earth? Why are we superheroes?"  
Madoka asked.  
Chula was quiet. She was about to say something when she faltered, falling onto the side of the tree.

In a poof of white smoke, in place of the girl, a small, floating white mouse appeared.  
"Aaah. That form is really exhausting~de chu."  
Kichi, Audrey and Madoka should have been surprised, but the sudden appearance of the mouse was almost expected. The three fairy partners appeared, in their animal forms, and danced around Chula, obviously excited to see her in her natural form. Chula managed to calm them down before she spoke up again.  
"Well, I don't know if I can tell you. It seems like something Cure Poker should tell you~de chu."  
"But, how can we talk to her? We saw her fight today, and then become Yui! And she had no idea what she had done."  
"That's right. how can we expect to tai to her when we have no way of doing so? Oshio-san had no memory of fighting with us as Cure Poker this afternoon."  
Audrey said.  
The setting sun cast a long shadow along the small mouse's face.  
"You're right~de chu. Poker lost her memory coming to this world. But how that happened isn't important right now~de chu!"

The three girls looked confused. Why had they been brought here if they weren't going to get any answers. Kichi turned to Darling.  
"Darling, why did you bring us here if she can't tell us anything?"  
Darling looked down, quiet. It was almost as if she didn't have an answer.  
"You needed to know who Chula was, eventually~lingu!"  
She said. Kichi let out a sigh.  
"Because~de chu! Because…I need your help~de chu! I need your help to get Poker's memory back~de chu!"  
All three of the girls looked at Chula. It was obvious that she was desperate for help.  
Kichi was the first to speak up.  
"Okay, Chula. We'll help you."  
She said, giving the mouse a big smile.

* * *

Yui felt confused, and hurt. The way Kichi, Audrey and Madoka had looked at her during the game had more of a lasting effect on her than she thought. These girls had made a huge effort to become her friend, to familiarize her with the world around her that was so alien and foreign to her. But at the same time, she didn't understand why that was. She felt the need to go back to the hill in the park that had become her home. But she didn't want to go there. She had no desire to talk to the young woman that talked in riddles. She found herself wandering around the city, no real designation in her mind. Chula didn't really let her wander around the city. In fact, it was school, and then back to the hill. That mysterious hill where she had woken up just a few months ago. But it seemed like years to Yui.

Yui decided it was time to stop looking at her feet as she walked through the small city. Right across the street from her was the tea shop the girls had taken her once before. "Tea Card" the sign on the wall read in elegant, looping letters. When she was able to, Yui crossed the street and made her way into the café.  
"Welcome to Tea Card! How many are you expecting?"  
Came the melodious voice of Hoshiko.  
"Just-just me."  
Yui said. Hoshiko lead the girl to the table that Kichi always requested.  
"Hey… Aren't you Kichi's friend?"  
Yui nodded.  
"Well where are they? And why do you look so sad?"  
Yui shrugged at her first question. But the second question weighed down on her.  
"I'm not sure… We were at the basketball game today, and something weird happened a little after half time. The whole gym was empty, and Kichi, Audrey and Madoka were just looking at me like I had become a monster."

The café was empty, so Hoshiko took it upon herself to sit and talk with Yui. However, what she didn't realize was that she had left the front unmanned. And a boy with electric blue hair walked through the entrance.

* * *

Yui's tea had gone cold, and Hoshiko had been scolded back into working. However, her words did not fall on deaf ears. What Hoshiko had told Yui was still running through her mind.  
"_They're your friends, Yui. I'm sure whatever is going on isn't because of you. They don't think you're a monster either. I know for a fact Kichi would never think that way of you._"

Yui had asked how she knew that. Apparently, Hoshiko and Kichi had been next door neighbors growing up. The two girls knew each other well. Hoshiko's words had helped Yui feel a little better. But her sadness towards Kichi and the other's reaction to her standing on the basketball court changed to her sadness that something was missing. And something big. But she couldn't figure out what it was.

* * *

The boy with electric blue hair tipped his glasses down. Rounder smirked. He'd found his next target: the waitress girl running back and forth from the tables to the kitchen to the front. Apparently it wasn't her job to do the front, but their host had called in sick today. And she wasn't even getting some extra money for doing so. Greed for money was the easiest thing to pick out in humans. Rounder knew he could do better, but why bother? This girl was plenty angry as well. Rounder did, however, pick up on the fact that she kept shooting glances at the girl across the café from him. A sad looking girl with jet black hair sat at a table in the corner between two big windows, burgundy eyes staring at a cup of tea.

Rounder moved back to his target, but couldn't help but feel that the girl across the café felt very familiar to him. The girl stood and made her way towards the restrooms. The second she turned her back to him, he nearly spit out his tea. A faint mark that only he could see radiated dark blue light in the middle of the girl's back.  
"Cure Poker."  
He said through gritted teeth. The time to act on his target was now. He made his way over to Hoshiko, slipping the Avari card into her apron pocket. It wouldn't take long for the card's magic to activate. He'd already spoken the command to summon the monster. All it would take is a simple brush of her fingers against the card for the transformation to take place.

* * *

"But…there's got to be some way we can figure out how to get Poker's memory back. Do you have any ideas, Chula?"  
Madoka said.  
The girls and the fairies had been on the hill for quite sometime, and decided it was best to make their way back downtown, headed for Tea Card. Luckily, no one was paying them any attention, so their conversation seemed like it was taking place just between three girls, and not three girls and four fairies.  
"I've been thinking~de chu,"  
Chula started, making sure not to make any sudden movements as she rested in Kichi's arms. But the small white mouse hesitated before continuing.  
"Maybe you need to transform in front of her~de chu?"  
The girls all nodded in agreement, but they were still worn out from fighting the Avari that afternoon. The sun had finally gone down, but it wasn't quite dark just yet. Tones of red and orange blended into the inky blue black sky.  
"But she always transforms into her original self when an Avari is born. And it's instant~de chu."  
"There has to be a way for her to not transform~lingu."

Madoka and Audrey fired off ways to maybe prevent Yui's transformation right away, but Kichi was silent. Her own ideas were swirling around.  
"Does she have a Pretty Cure Card?"  
The blonde spoke up. Audrey and Madoka stopped talking as Kichi started talking.  
"I mean, it happened to each of us, those cards appearing in front of us before we transformed. Does Yui have one?"  
"No~de chu. She wouldn't have need for one, as a citizen of the Land of Cards~de chu."  
"But she isn't a citizen of the Land of Cards. Not anymore, at least."  
Kichi continued.  
"I mean, it makes sense doesn't it? If she gets her card, she'll be able to transform, and not have Poker completely take over."  
Audrey gasped.

"You're right Kichi! It's almost as if there's not a unity of the personalities inside one body. Poker comes out when she wants, and Yui has no control. But,"  
Audrey's voice trailed off.  
"There's no way to keep her from becoming Cure Poker when an Avari is born~rayray."  
Razor finished for her. The girls had made their way back to Tea Card, and as they arrived, a boy with bright blue hair and sunglasses brushed past them, followed by Hoshiko running out of the café, calling after him.

"Hey! You didn't pay for your tea, you jerk!"  
She yelled.  
"I already paid you! It's in your apron pocket."  
Hoshiko stopped walking, as did the boy. Confused, Hoshiko reached into her apron pocket and a flash of red black light burst from Hoshiko's body. A second later, a giant tea pot monster, with the signature "A" between two familiar glowing red eyes appeared.

"AVARI! I SHOULD BE GETTING PAID FOR ALL MY EXTRA WORK!"  
The people that were in the streets screamed and ran in the opposite direction of the tea pot monster. Darling, Razor and Keroro all poofed into their cellphone forms. Kichi, Audrey and Madoka took their cards out of their pockets, about to shout their phrase when another familiar figure appeared in a flash of white. Poker had already taken over.

"Hurry up and transform!"  
She commanded, clearly ignoring the fact that they were just about to do so.

"Pretty Cure!Card Play!"  
"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"  
"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"

"Ah, so the gang's all here."  
Rounder said, throwing off his sunglasses and his human disguise. The four Warriors all glared at him.  
"Geez! How many of there are you annoying guys?!"  
Trump yelled.  
"I'm Rounder. I'm the leader of the Card Shark Quartet. And the thief of your precious Poker's memory."  
Poker had charged forward as Rounder was talking. He was able to deflect her moves with ease.  
"Looks like the White Warrior is all riled up!"  
Rounder jeered, black blue energy appearing in his hands. He thrust his open palms forward into Poker's stomach, sending her flying backwards into the arms of her three fellow Warriors.  
"Let the fun begin! Avari! Destroy the Pretty Cure Warriors!"  
The tea pot monster ran towards the four girls, blistering steam erupting from the monster's spout.

The four girls scattered as the teapot monster rampaged towards them. Rounder kept his eyes on the White Warrior as she dodged blasts of steam. He charged for her. Cure Poker was facing the Avari when he slammed into her back. She was forced forward, and fell to her side, rolling a few feet once she hit the ground. Pain lanced up and down her back; she could feel the magic Rounder had used on her when attacked her the very first time she saw him. It was what was forcing her memories as Cure Poker to stay with Poker only. She struggled to get up, but once she was on her feet, she looked back at Trump, Royal and Straight. They were taking care of the Avari as needed. They would take care of it. The way Rounder was staring down Poker told her that he was not letting her interfere.  
"We have some unfinished business, Cure Poker."  
Rounder said, running a hand through his already slicked back hair.

"You disappeared before I had a chance to destroy you, back in the Land of Cards."  
Poker said nothing. She had to figure out a way to get rid of him and help the three other warriors with the Avari.  
"I'm sorry I ruined your fun, then. I'm sure taking advantage of people when they aren't paying you any attention gives you great pleasure."  
Poker's back was still burning with pain, but she put on a brave face and stared down Rounder. She wasn't going to let him win a second time.

* * *

While Poker dealt with the new Card Shark member, Trump, Royal and Straight had to figure out how to take down a monstrous tea pot. The blasts of hot steam melted cars that lined the streets, left puddles when cooled down, and caused serious burns on the three girls. Getting close to the monster was difficult. And each girl had to get a clear shot at the monster if they wanted to purify it. The girls did their best to punch and kick the monster in various areas. But kicking and punching wasn't going to be enough.

After what seemed like hours, Trump came up with a plan. She called the other two girls over.  
"Royal! Straight! I've got a plan!"  
The green and blue girls made their way over to Trump, who was hiding down an alley, leaving the Avari momentarily confused as to where its targets were.  
"Okay. It's a tea pot, right?"  
Trump asked, wiping sweat off her face.  
"And as crazy as a monster tea pot is, I think it's probably even crazier to expect that it has actual tea inside of it. So if I'm right, here's what we're going to do. Straight, you're going to get underneath it, and set a big fire underneath it. That'll cause it to steam even if it doesn't want to."  
Straight nodded.  
"And then Royal, once you think it's steamed up the street enough, blow all the steam away. But let it build up a little, that way it won't see us."  
"And after I blow the steam away, you'll take it out!"  
Royal finished for her. Trump nodded enthusiastically.  
"Sounds like a plan to me."

Straight was the first to run out of the alley. The teapot saw her right away, and charged right for Straight.  
"_Experience my shuddering hand! Straight Blaze!_"

Straight yelled, bright green fire appearing in her hands. She thrust her hands down, the fire striking the asphalt, and snaking its way towards the Avari. Once beneath it, the flames burst upwards, striking the underside of the teapot. Within seconds, steam began pouring out of the spout, the Avari confused. The fire seemed to immobilize the monster, which was good for the Cures. Steam began to flood the street, and soon, it was too hazy to see anything. The fire died down, and the Avari was able to move again. It cautiously turned around.  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy! Royal Breeze!_"  
The steam cleared with wisps of blue energy. Standing directly in front of the teapot was Cure Trump, her hands formed into her signature hand gun.  
"_I'll show you my trump card! Trump Shot!_"

The pink bullet of energy flew from Trump's extended fingertips and shot right through the center of the monster. The Avari glowed with pink energy and exploded with pink smoke. Hoshiko was lying on the ground, unconscious and the Avari card burned to ashes the second it touched the ground. A light from the inky black sky above restored the street to its former state.  
"Royal! Straight! Take care of Hoshiko-senpai!"  
Trump yelled, turning around to see where Poker was.

* * *

Poker was breathing hard. Rounder was too strong for her. She heard an explosion behind her and turned her head over her shoulder. The Avari was defeated. She had mere seconds before she became Yui again. Trump was standing in front of her before she knew it. She looked up at the girl in pink.  
"If you're doing to do anything else to her, you'll have to go through me to do it!"  
Trump yelled. Rounder eyed her, contemplating his next move.  
"Ah. You've gone and purified my Avari."  
He said, almost happy about the outcome.  
"I think I've had my fun. She's too weak to take me on anyway. Killing her like this wouldn't be that fun."  
Rounder disappeared in a flash of dark blue light.

Poker lurched forward, the pain of Rounder's magic taking over her once again. Trump grabbed her shoulders, and she looked into the girl's golden eyes.  
"Don't worry, Poker. We'll get Yui your memories back. It's a promise."  
"Thank y-"  
She couldn't finish. A flash of white light later, and Poker was gone. Yui found herself looking at a strange girl with pink ponytails and gold eyes. The girl excused herself, and ran off. Yui turned to follow her. Two other girls, one dressed in blue, another in green ran with the girl in pink into an alley. Seconds later, Kichi, Audrey and Madoka walked out of the same alley.

"What is going on here?"  
Yui thought.


	6. Find Yui a Club To Call Her Own!

"AVARRIII!"  
The monster stomped around the amusement park, people scattering and screaming.  
"Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!"  
Cure Poker's attack was fired at the monster, hitting it square in the big red A in between its eyes. It glowed with a white light and exploded in a fury of white smoke. The smoke cleared, and a teenage boy lay on the ground, the Avari card burning to ash when it hit the concrete. Cures Trump, Royal and Straight ran up to Cure Poker, the three of them out of breath. Poker had her back to them, but she knew they were there. Her brows furrowed and she spun on them.  
"Where were you three?"  
Her voice was sharp, but her anger tame. The three girls looked up at their senior cure.

"We got caught up trying to get here. We're sorry."  
"Sorry won't cut it when your whole town is taken over by these things! Get here faster next time!"  
Cure Poker was close to shouting at them. But her usual detransformation quickly took hold of her. But before she could become Yui once again, Trump spoke up.  
"Wait! Cure Poker!"  
The light coming from Cure Poker's body faded. She stood upright, her hard eyes set on Cure Trump.  
"What else could you possibly want to say?"  
But Trump, nor her teammates, could speak. The simple act of saying her name stopped her transformation process.  
"Well?"  
The three girls stammered, but the white light returned, and Cure Poker was Yui once more. Trump looked at Royal and Straight. The other two were reflecting her look of shock. Trump regained her composure. This was going on for too long. There had to be a way to get Yui to regain her memories.

* * *

A few days had passed. Yui found herself looking at the orangey pink sky as the sun set. She was lying on her back under the tree where she and Chula "lived." No one seemed to question them for living in the park. In fact, no one seemed to notice them at this specific tree. Yui closed her eyes, her thoughts running at a million miles a minute.

"Chula?"  
There was no answer, but Yui knew Chula was listening.  
"Where do I belong?"  
Chula remained quite for a while.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean… I feel like I don't belong in this world. That there's nothing for me here. But… I have nowhere else to turn."

"Nonsense, Yui."  
Yui opened her eyes. She felt her eyes grow wet. She blinked the tears away. She refused to cry.  
"No it's not. No one seems to know how to act around me. And I think I have some friends… But every time they look at me, they look at me with this pity in their eyes. Like they don't know what to say to me."  
Chula was quiet. Yui rubbed her eyes free of the remaining tears.  
"Are you talking about Kichi and the others?"  
Just the name Kichi made Yui want to cry. She felt like she had a genuine friend in the girl, but there was a distance between them. And Yui wasn't sure how to bridge it.  
"They are your friends Yui. I know it doesn't seem like it right now. But they care for you. They look at you with concern, not pity."

"Concern for what?"

Yui's words sounded bitter, but she didn't care.  
"Believe me when I say you wouldn't believe me, Yui. But they care for you. And you have a place in this world. You just have to find it. And I believe those girls can help you."

* * *

"Well, girls, if you're wondering why I've called you to my house, I'll tell you."  
"Kichi, we know why we're here. You told us when you texted us."  
Audrey said.  
"We are here to help Yui get her memories as Cure Poker back!"  
Kichi exclaimed, thrusting her index finger into the air. Madoka and Audrey put their heads in their hands.  
"But how, Kichi? I mean, we really don't have much to go on."  
Madoka said.  
"Well… Not necessarily. Remember earlier today when Cure Poker began to revert back to Yui, and Kichi called for her? That stopped whatever magic was working on her."  
Audrey noted.  
"Oh yeah…"  
The girls were quiet for a moment, thinking of something else to say about the situation.  
"What if it's got something to do about finding herself? Or maybe a place where she can be herself?"  
Audrey asked, breaking the silence.

Kichi ran her fingers across her chin, a pensive look on her face.  
"I'VE GOT IT!"  
Kichi shouted, jumping up to her feet, almost knocking the table they were sitting at over.  
"We've got to get Yui-chan into a club!"

* * *

The next morning, students filed in for class as usual. Kichi had arrived so early that she was the first one in her seat while other students were walking through the front gates. Audrey and Madoka entered the classroom, looks of shock on their faces when they saw Kichi in her desk, head down.  
"Wow…She's here so early. Good morning Kichi!"  
Audrey said, walking over to her desk next to Kichi's.  
"I doubt we'll ever see her this early for class ever again."  
Madoka said, sitting down in front of Kichi.  
"Yeah… Kichi, what are you doing here so early?"  
Kichi, however, gave no response, her head still resting on her folded arms on the desk.  
"Kichi…?"  
Audrey said, softly nudging Kichi's shoulder. A loud snore emitted from Kichi's bent over figure.  
"Of course she's asleep."  
Madoka said, putting a hand over her face.

"Kichi! Wake UP!"  
Audrey exclaimed. Kichi's eyes slowly opened. She sat upright in her chair, rubbing her eyes. She took her red glasses out from her bag and placed them on her face, right as Yui walked in the classroom door.  
"Yui-chann~! Good morning~!"  
Yui gave a start; Kichi's voice had cut through the morning murmurs loud and clear. Yui's face hardened, and she made her way to her seat, which was in front of Audrey.  
"Good morning, Abe-san."  
Yui's voice had an edge to it, but her face had softened a little.  
"Yui! Get ready for some fun today! Because I'm going to make sure you get into a club today!"  
"A club?"

* * *

The day went by rather horribly for the Yui. The swim team was too full, the fencing team found Yui too aggressive (though Yui wasn't sure why she was so aggressive to begin with), she didn't know how to write poetry, she didn't understand the rules of basketball, and she was too flat and monotone for the Drama Club.  
"Man, there's got to be something at school for you, Yui!"  
"Hey, Abe-san, really, thank you but-"  
"Call me Kichi, for the hundredth time!"  
Yui bit her lip. She did treasure Kichi as a friend, but despite Kichi's best efforts, she wasn't finding a place she could call her own.  
"Kichi… I just don't think there's a club for me here. Thank you, but…"  
Madoka put her hand on Yui's shoulder.

"Yui-san. Didn't you learn from the basketball team not to give up? Didn't you see those girls practicing their hearts out?"  
"Yes, but-  
"And we at the poetry club told you that when you hit a wall, you just have to push through it and your best writing will come through!"  
Audrey chimed in.  
"The show must go on!"  
Kichi said joyfully. Yui, however, shut her eyes. She could feel the hot tears pooling beneath her lids.

"STOP!"

Yui shouted. The three girls fell quiet, and Yui opened her eyes, the tears threatening to spill over her bottom lids. She wiped them away before they had a chance.  
She took a deep breath.  
"Thank you, really. I'm glad you're all trying to help me, but… Nothing's sticking with me. I'm sorry. There's not a club for me at this school."  
"You're right, Oshio-san. We shouldn't have tried to force you into any of the clubs. I'm sorry. We're sorry."  
Audrey said.  
Madoka nodded in agreement. Kichi was about to protest, but Audrey shook her head. Kichi closed her mouth, wanting to say something.  
"Just don't give up."  
She said finally.

Yui looked into Kichi's eyes, and nodded. It was a very small movement, but it was a nod nonetheless.  
"Hey… Can I ask a question?"  
"Of course, Yui-san. Ask us anything!"  
Audrey said.  
Yui was quiet for a few seconds, but the girls, having just learned how fragile Yui truly was, kept quiet patiently.  
"Does…does the name 'Cure Poker' mean anything to you?"  
The three girls exchanged panicked looks.  
"Uuuhhh, where-where did you hear that name, Yui?"  
"We certainly haven't heard that name before! Ha… Haha.. Hahaha!"  
"Gosh, Kichi. For being an actress, you're a terrible liar."

For the first time that day, a smile spread on Yui's face. And a laugh erupted from her mouth. The three girls stopped their worrying for a moment to take in Yui's reaction. Her small laughter resided.  
"I'm sure the name means nothing but… It's been popping up in my dreams the past couple nights. A name keeps calling 'Cure Poker', and I think it's talking to me. But, it's just a dream. Like I said, I'm sure it means nothing."

* * *

"Aaah. No one's signing up for my chess team."  
A boy from Yugaki, Iori, said.  
Rounder had been stalking the school grounds as a student. When he passed by the boy saying this, he smirked. He took out an Avari card and slipped it into the boys pocket.  
"Use this card, and you'll be able to get all your members."  
He whispered before walking off. Iori took out the card and examined it.  
"Hey, I think you…"  
Iori's voice trailed off. Rounder was nowhere to be seen.

"You said you've been having this dream for the past couple of nights, Yui?"  
Madoka asked, the girls walking through the courtyard of the school.  
"Yeah. It's weird. I'm standing in this big courtyard. I think it's for a castle. Anyway… I hear this 'Cure Poker' name. And I'm spinning around, trying to find where the voice is coming from. It's weird, because… It sounds like my voice. And this courtyard I'm standing in looks really familiar… Oh. I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about my dreams."  
Yui said, red coloring her face.  
"Don't be silly, Yui! Sometimes you need to speak dreams out loud in order to fully understand them. That's what my mom says sometimes."  
"Your…mom…"  
Yui's happy expression saddened a bit. She couldn't remember if she had any parents. The closest thing she had to a parent was Chula. And Chula wouldn't give her much information about anything. She always claimed Yui wouldn't believe it.  
"So, Yui,"  
Audrey said, trying to change the subject.  
"We're headed to my house to do some homework. Would you like to join us?"

* * *

"Please!"  
Iori cried, shoving fliers into student's faces.  
"Join the Chess Team!"  
Student's walked in front of Iori, ignoring his cries. Some took the fliers, looked at them, walked away and threw the flier in the trash. A few bullies came over and took the fliers and crumpled them up and threw them at him.  
"I should just give up. No one's going to join this team."  
Iori set his fliers on the ground, only for a breeze to pick up and blow most of them away.  
"Noo! My fliers!"  
Iori hung his head of light brown hair. His green eyes closed, and he sighed.  
"Oh, wait a minute…"  
Iori pulled the playing card out of his pocket. The mysterious student still was nowhere to be found, but his promise rung in Iori's ears.  
'_Use this card, and you'll be able to get all your members._'

Iori's hands clutched the card harder.  
"I want to gain members!"  
The card flashed a red/black light, which consumed Iori. When the light subsided, a giant white and black knight made of chess pieces stood in his place.  
"AVARI! I'LL GAIN ALL THE MEMBERS FOR THE CHESS CLUB!"

* * *

The girls had just rounded the corner from the front gate into the now empty courtyard, all laughing and talking when suddenly, Yui jerked forward, clutching her stomach, glowing with light white. Kichi, Madoka and Audrey heard screams coming from behind them, and soon, the roar of the Avari. Kichi looked at Yui, her transformation was taking a bit longer than it usually did. She had to act fast.  
"Yui!"  
Yui stopped glowing, and the look of pain faded from her face. Kichi grabbed her hand and ran backwards, towards the school courtyard, Madoka and Audrey following her. When the girls entered the courtyard, much of it was full of craters. The chess knight was stomping and slicing things apart. Yui's hand felt hot in Kichi's hand once again. She turned and saw Yui beginning to become Cure Poker once more.  
"Yui! I'm not letting you become Cure Poker without you getting your memories back! Yui! Please, stay with me! Stay Yui for just a little longer!"  
The white light faded, and Yui's burgundy eyes stared back at Kichi's brown. She nodded, though it was obvious she had no idea what Kichi was talking about.  
"Audrey! Madoka! Let's transform!"

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"  
"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"  
Yui stared at the three Cure Warriors in front of her, eyes full of wonder.  
"Pretty... Cure…?"  
Pain racked Yui's body as the seal on her back began to glow with blue lightning.

"Ah. Pretty Cure! How nice of you to show!"  
"Rounder!"  
"Hmm? Only three of you? Where's the White Warrior?"  
"That's not important! What's important is that we can't have you terrorizing the school! Girls! Let's go!"  
Trump said.  
The three warriors jumped in action and began attacking the chess Avari. Yui continued to look on. Chula suddenly appeared next to her.  
"Ch-Chula?"  
"Stay strong, Yui."  
Memories began to flood Yui's mind. Her running through halls in a white castle.

"Pretty Cure Triple Kick!"  
Trump, Royal and Straight all thrust a leg forward as they kicked the monster in unison. It staggered a bit, but the kick only angered it. Rounder threw his head back in laughter as the chess monster charged at the three girls, sending them flying backwards. Yui cried both in concern and pain. The seal on her back surged with more blue electricity.  
"Yui!"  
Trump called. Yui looked up, something inside her was desperate to get out. But every time someone said her name, whatever was inside of her subsided. More memories continued to pop into Yui's mind. A face with kind, soft, rose red eyes of a woman with rosy red hair was looking at her, smiling.  
"I've had enough of being punched around! _Experience my shuddering hand! Straight Blaze!_"  
Cure Straight's hands were set ablaze with bright green fire. She punch downward at the ground, the fire snaking towards the chess monster. The chess monster waved his hand forcefully, sending gale force winds, extinguishing the fire.

The monster took three orbs off of his shoulder piece and flung them at the warriors. Each one elongated into a cylinder and wrapped itself tight around the three girls. Yui couldn't watch, and whatever was inside of her began fighting again, itching to get out.  
'_No. Kichi told me to stay with her. I have to stay. I have to. For Kichi. For Audrey and Madoka, too._'  
"YUI!"  
"Yui-san!"  
"Yui!"  
"Please! Remember!"

Something snapped in Yui. The electricity stopped, and the seal glowed brightly before disappearing in a "ping!" of white light. Yui stood up tall, her burgundy eyes burning with passion. Rounder stopped laughing as he realized Cure Poker was hiding all along. He had to stop her once again.  
"Avari! Get her! Stop her!"  
The chess monster turned in Yui's direction and prepared a sword.

A flash of white appeared in front of Yui, a card with a glimmering silvery grey diamond in the center with a barcode on the side in the same color appeared.  
"Chula."  
"Yes~de chu!"  
Chula said, turning into her cellphone form.  
"Let's do this. Pretty Cure! Card Play!"

Yui slid her Pretty Cure Card through the slit on top of Chula's cellphone form. The trackpad glowed, and she traced a "P" onto the screen. She was surrounded by silver and white light. Her dark hair glowed with white light formed into a puffy side pony tail on the left side of her head. A big grey and silver bow pinged into existence to tie her hair up, a white diamond in the middle of the bow. Grey energy in the form of six large petals circled around her waist, before her skirt and torso appeared. She spun around, arm warmers pinging into place. She made a diamond shape with her index fingers and thumbs, and placed it on her chest. A pale pink ribbon appeared with a white diamond in the middle. She kicked her feet together, two boots with a pale pink diamond pattern appearing. She spun around once more, Chula attaching herself to Poker's waist. Lastly, a large, transparent ribbon appeared on the back of her waist, the ribbon ends reaching to her knees. She struck a pose.  
"The Risky Beginning Move! Cure Poker!"

"Cure Poker!"  
Trump exclaimed.  
"She managed to transform without Poker taking over!"  
Royal said joyfully.  
"That's really great and all, but we're still stuck in these balls! Poker! Can you help us?"  
Straight shouted. Cure Poker turned and smiled to her three comrades. She charged for them, striking the white balls trapping the other three.  
"Thank you! Now that we can move, let's take this thing down!"

The three other girls nodded in agreement with Straight, each one charging for the chess monster. the chess monster was prepared for them, however, matching each punch and kick made at it. It sent another round of wind to stall the warriors. It raised its blade, the sword glowing with red energy. The Avari brought its sword down, a blade of black/red energy was flung from the blade in the direction of the Pretty Cure. Poker was the first to recover from being blown backwards. She ran up to the energy blade and kicked it skyward.

"It's going to take a lot more than wind to catch us off guard!"  
She turned back to her teammates.  
"Trump! Royal! Straight! Let's all take it down together!"  
The four fairies, in their cellphone forms, all floated in front of their respective Cure. The trackpad lit up, and the four girls traced the familiar gold cross.  
"_I'll show you my trump card! Trump Shot!_"  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy! Royal Breeze!_"  
"_Experience my shuddering hand! Straight Blaze!_"  
"_Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!_"  
The four attacks all flew at the Avari at the same time, hitting it square in the chest. In an explosion of multicolored smoke, the monster disappeared. Iori was seen on the ground unconscious, and the Avari card burned to ashes the second it touched the ground.  
"Well. I have to admit, Cure Poker. I never thought that you'd be able to get out of that seal. But it doesn't matter. The Gambling King has got a plan to bring this world to devastation just like your pathetic Land of Cards."  
Rounder then disappeared in a flash of blue lightning.

"Kichi. Audrey. Madoka."  
Cure Poker said, her back to the three other warriors. She couldn't look at them. Not yet. She was too emotional at the moment.  
"I just… I-I just want to thank you. For everything."  
Cure Poker spun around and put her arms around the other three warriors.  
"It's what friends are for, Yui."  
A large smile broke on Poker's face as she tightened her arms around the other girls.

* * *

"Iori-kun? Are you okay?"  
Kichi said, nudging the unconscious boy. His eyes flickered open, and he sat up, putting his head in his hands.  
"I think so, Abe-san. Ah! My fliers!"  
Iori got on his knees and began picking up the fliers that the wind had blown away. Kichi and the others also helped him pick up his fliers.  
"So at the end of the day, no one joined my team…"  
Iori said, his voice full of disappointment. Kichi eyed Iori, then turned back to Yui.  
"Iori-kun, do you have a chess set with you?"  
Iori looked up at Kichi and nodded. He lead the girls back inside the school and to his shoebox. He told them that he always had a chess set with him.  
"Well, I think I have a solution to your problems! Yui!"  
Kichi said, clasping her hands around Yui's shoulders.  
"Do you know how to play chess?"  
Yui eyed the game pieces, then Kichi.

"Um… No."  
"Ah! Oshiro-san! Everyone should know how to play chess! Here, let me show you how!"

After a brief explanation, and two games (both of which Yui won) Yui was calling for a third game.  
"Come on, Iori-san! Let's play another!"  
"But, it's getting late, Yui-san! Let's go home! But… If you really want to play more, will you join my chess team?!"  
"OF COURSE!"  
Yui shouted.  
"It's like you said! Everyone should know how to play this game!"


	7. The Tale of the Land of Cards!

The throne room was quiet. The King had summoned the Card Shark Quartet, and the four generals knelt before him, not daring to look up. The Gambling King sat lazily across his throne, his arm propped up on one chair arm, his legs dangling over the other arm. He twirled an Avari card in his fingers. His pale skin glowed in the spotlight that was above him. His tussled, dark red hair covered one eye. He had a simple black outfit on that almost looked like a boy's school uniform. On his head rested an extravagant, black silver and ruby crown.  
"Well,"  
The King started.  
"You haven't failed me yet. After all, you've each only fought the Pretty Cure warriors once or twice so far.

The Quartet said nothing still, but their tense bodies seemed to ease. The King's voice was even, and seemed almost casual in tone.  
"However, I was hoping to have at least one soul by now. We've been scouting Earth for too long. But those pesky Pretty Cure Warriors keep making it impossible to take it over completely."  
The King stopped fiddling with the card in his elegant fingers. He swung his legs over the arm of the throne and sat upright.  
"So today, forget about trying to find souls. Take on the Pretty Cure Warriors head on."

* * *

Episode 7: "The Tale of the Land of Cards! Yui's Sad Memories!"

* * *

Kichi, Audrey and Madoka all arrived at the park, as per Yui and Chula's instructions. They arrived at the hill they had first met Chula. But instead of the single cherry blossom tree, a shop had sprung up. Even more interesting was the fact that people were actually taking notice of the shop and entering it.  
"People can see this hill now?"  
Kichi asked.  
Audrey and Madoka shrugged in answer. The three girls walked up the hill into the shop. There were no signs in the front to tell them what kind of shop it was, but a sweet, baked scent could be smelled, as the girls got closer to the shop. When they entered, they were met with:

"Welcome! Please enjoy these card cookies!"

Yui was standing behind a register, taking orders and welcoming customers as they entered the shop.  
It wasn't terribly busy, but the shop was getting some action. There were cookie displays almost everywhere. Some where built into the walls, some were delicately placed on towers on tables in the middle of the main floor.  
"Wow. It smells wonderful in here!"  
Audrey said.  
"It really does."  
Madoka agreed.  
"I just want to eat nothing but cookies now!"  
Kichi exclaimed, running up to Yui.  
"Yui! We're here! Just liked you and Chula asked!"  
Kichi said.

Chula's head popped out from behind Yui, her face covered in flour.  
"Kichi! Audrey! Madoka!"  
Chula dusted the flour off her hands and walked into the main floor of the shop.  
"Yui, time to close up."  
"Excuse me, thank you for your service, but the shop will have to close now. You've made our opening day a success. We are forever in your debt."  
Yui said, making her way to the door and opening it for the customers. There were murmurs of 'Darn, we'll have to leave' and 'Why do they have to close?' or 'There were no signs out front, how were we supposed to know when the shop would close?'

Within five minutes, the store was completely empty. Kichi, Audrey and Madoka all looked at Yui and Chula, amazed at what they had done.  
"How?"  
Kichi asked, the word simply flying out.  
Yui and Chula looked at one another and smiled.  
"Well, we very well couldn't live under a tree for the rest of our time here in the Human World. It was Chula's idea."  
Yui said.  
"Apparently she used to work with bakers before she decided she wanted to become a Pretty Cure fairy partner."

Chula had reverted back to her mouse form, and was hanging off of Yui's shoulder. She nodded with a smile as Yui spoke.  
"Yes~de chu! We needed a cover, and I knew how to bake~de chu!"  
"That's our Chula-sama~lingu!"  
Darling chimed in, the three other fairies changing from their cellphone forms.

* * *

A table had been brought out, tea had been made, and the four girls sat at the table quietly. Kichi was the one to break the silence.  
"So, Yui. Chula. What is it you wanted to talk to us about?"  
"Surely it couldn't have been just to tell us you opened a cookie shop."  
Audrey said, nibbling on one of Chula's cookies.  
"Oh my! These really are so delicious Chula!"  
She mused.

Chula smiled in thanks, and answered.  
"Well, as you know, Yui and I come from the Land of Cards~de chu. So, we decided it's time that you three know the true story of what happened and how we came to be here in the Human World~de chu."

"Wait."

Chula and Yui were about to start speaking before Madoka told them to wait.  
"Just one thing before you get started with this story."  
Everyone was quiet. Madoka took a deep breath.  
"I love that we're able to help people. Really I do. But…I still really don't have an answer to something just yet."  
"What is it, Madoka~roro?"  
Keroro hopped on top of Madoka's green head.  
"Why us? Why are we Pretty Cure Warriors? Were we warriors in a past life or something? Were we born into this world having already been selected to become Pretty Cure Warriors?"

Chula and Yui both looked deep in thought, trying to think carefully about how to answer Madoka's question.  
"A Pretty Cure Warrior is not a reincarnated warrior from the past, nor is she someone who is chosen before her birth to become a warrior."  
Yui said, a small smile on her face, looking down at her tea.  
"Any girl can become a Pretty Cure Warrior. The only requirement is that she has a will to protect something precious to her. As long as a girl has that will to protect, she can become a Pretty Cure Warrior."

"Anyone can become a Pretty Cure Warrior…"  
Kichi said softly.  
"Kind of puts things in perspective a little."  
Audrey said.  
"Actually. A lot of Warriors are born from this planet~rayray!"  
Razor said, flapping his wings as he circled above Audrey's head.  
"You mean…there are more Pretty Cure Warriors than just us?"  
"Of course~lingu!"

Yui took a sip of her tea. She looked at Chula and nodded.  
"Let me tell you the story of how I became a Pretty Cure Warrior."

* * *

_Flashback_

Poker, aged eleven, walks around a large market, stalls set up all around her, a small coin purse in her hands. She wore a simple white dress, and her hair was pulled into a similar ponytail as her future Cure form, a pale ribbon holding it in place. She and her mother were shopping in the produce area. Vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables were on Poker's left, while light brown, delicious smelling bread was being sold on her right.  
"Momma!"  
Poker called, running up to her mother.  
"Ah, Poker. Have you found anything good to buy?"  
"Not yet, Momma. But I did hear that the King is in the Plaza today!"

As Poker said it, a loud fanfare was heard behind her and her mother. They both turned to see an older man dressed in royal clothing. Two older girls stood by him. One had golden hair pulled back into a ponytail and was dressed in an outfit with red, yellow and white. The second had purple hair that was also in a ponytail, and was dressed in an outfit of purple and white.  
"Momma! Look! The Pretty Cure Warriors! Momma? One day, I want to be a Pretty Cure!"  
"Poker, you know that citizens of the Land of Cards never get selected to become Pretty Cure Warriors."

Poker's large smile became smaller, and her face became less bright.  
"I know, but…"  
Poker's mother picked up on the effect her words had on her daughter.  
"But if you keep dreaming, Poker, maybe one day you'll be the first citizen to become a Pretty Cure Warrior."

Weeks passed, and an announcement was made that the King was stepping down. He was getting old, and he had found a suitable successor. The two pretty Cure Warriors that protected the Land of Cards were no longer protecting the Land. One was stripped of her title, and sent back to Earth. The other just went… missing. Queen Rei was announced to be the King's successor, though no one knew where she came from. The King was the first king in a very long time to never marry, so he had no heirs by blood. Poker looked up to the Queen. She ruled the Land of Cards with a kind heart.

A few days after the Queen's coronation, Poker was out in the woods, collecting flowers. Her mother had asked her to collect them. It was something Poker always loved to do. While she was doing so, she heard a rustling behind her. A small rabbit ran out in front of her.  
"What's wrong, Mr. Rabbit?"  
Poker said, picking the animal up in her arms.

Now facing the bush, Poker noticed it was starting to rustle again. A young teenaged boy ran out of the bush, his electric blue hair wild and his pale blue eyes piercing.  
"Give me that rabbit!"  
He shouted.  
Poker looked down at the rabbit in her arms. She clutched it a bit tighter.  
"Why?!"  
She demanded.

"Because! I need that rabbit to make sure my family has dinner!"  
Poker's eyes hardened, her brows furrowed. She wasn't about to let this boy have the rabbit.  
"You can just go buy something in the market plaza!"  
The boy said nothing, but looked down, his expression looked almost hurt. He was quiet for a few moments.  
"I need that rabbit for dinner!"  
"I won't let you have him!"  
Poker cried.

The boy, now frustrated, was about to speak when someone else called for him.  
"Rounder! Come help us! We found a deer!"  
The boy, now named Rounder, looked back at Poker.  
"Consider yourself lucky. I don't need that stupid rabbit anymore."  
And with that, he was gone.

Another week passed, and it was the day of Poker's twelfth birthday. There was a knock on the door as Poker and her family were about to eat.  
"We're royal knights. The Queen has sent us. Please open up."  
Poker's mother stood and made her way wearily to the door. She opened the door with hesitant fingers.  
"Yes, can I help you?"  
"The Queen has requested the presence of your daughter. Please don't ask any Questions. You are welcome to accompany us, however."

Poker's mother didn't refuse the order of the Queen. Within thirty minutes, Poker and her mother stood before the Queen. Her red hair flowed over her right shoulder. She was dressed in an elegant crimson gown.  
"Poker,"  
The Queen started.  
"I saw in the woods last week."

Poker said nothing, but kept her eyes locked with the Queen's.  
"I admired your bravery to stand up to that boy. And for that,"

The Queen stood and walked forward to Poker.  
She leveled herself with Poker.  
"I have decided to reward your bravery with a personal request."  
Poker let out a long sigh, realizing she had been holding her breath.  
"Anything you ask, Your Majesty!"  
"Poker, I'd like you to become one of my trusted warriors, my personal knight. Please, Poker, will you accept the gift of the Pretty Cure Warriors?"  
Poker's mouth opened in awe. It took her a moment to find her voice.  
"Yes! Of course, Your Majesty!"

Chula appeared from behind the Queen. The Queen extended a small white diamond and clipped it into Poker's hair. The clip's magic worked instantly, and in a flash of light she stood as a Pretty Cure Warrior.  
"Welcome, Cure Card!"  
"Um, Your Majesty? If I may, can I keep my name? Can I be Cure Poker instead?"  
The Queen smiled at Poker.  
"Why of course."

* * *

"Whooooooooaaa."  
Kichi said, a small cookie falling from her fingers onto her plate with a faint "_plink_."

"So that's how you became a Pretty Cure, Yui-san."  
Audrey said.  
"You were twelve when you became a Pretty Cure?"  
Madoka asked.  
Yui blushed. She wasn't accustomed to talking about herself that much. The girls gushed over her being a Cure for two years now. Kichi was calling her Senpai while Audrey and Madoka were asking her questions.

"But,"  
Yui interrupted, her expression turning somber.  
"Those two years were fairly inactive. I became a guard of the Queen, but I didn't do much."  
The other three girls became quiet. There was more story to be told.  
"The one time I had a chance to protect the Queen. The one time I _needed_ to protect the Queen, I couldn't. The Gambling King and his minions issued a warning that they would be attacking us. But it took him two years to act on that. A few months ago is when he finally attacked the Land of Cards. The Queen apparently made her way to the front line of battle. I had no idea where she was. I was looking for her when I got attacked by Rounder."

Yui pushed through the last few words, before hiccuping, her words becoming choked.  
"And before he could do anything else, I brought Poker to the Human World~de chu."  
Chula finished.  
"And then the Gambling King completely took over the Land of Cards~lingu!"  
Darling said.  
"The Queen actually surrendered the Land, remember Darling~rayray?"  
Razor said.  
"The Queen surrendered and then she went into hiding~roro."  
"She lead as many people as she could save, but there were a lot that were changed into Avari's and had their souls reaped~rayray."  
"Then she sent us to the Human World to find new Pretty Cure Warriors~lingu."

There was a quiet moment. Yui had her head down. A few tears fell from Yui's face.  
"I failed my Queen."  
She said, her voice choked, bringing a fist to her forehead. The three other girls looked at one another, exchanging glances. The fairies were silent, Chula patting Yui's dark hair as she rested on Yui's head.  
"It's not your fault, Yui."  
Kichi said.  
"You were attacked by someone. You had to make sure you were fit to fight her before you could go and protect the Queen."  
Audrey added.  
"Hey, look at it this way."  
Madoka said. Yui looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes.  
"You're not alone anymore. You've got three more than able partners to help you now. You don't have to do anything alone anymore."

Madoka smiled. Yui's face went slack. She hadn't thought about that before. She had only regained her memories of her past just a few days ago. But she didn't stop to think about the fact that she wasn't alone anymore.  
"You're right. I-I'm not alone anymore."  
Yui said, sniffling and taking a bite of a cookie.  
"And I wanted to apologize for my behavior before that. I think I was just frustrated with myself that I wasn't allowing myself to have partners. I wanted to act alone. But,"  
She paused.  
"I can't imagine doing this without the three of you anymore."  
"Then let's stop all the crying! Let's celebrate in the fact that we're all awesome! We can do this! Let's get back the Land of Cards for the Queen!"  
Kichi exclaimed, standing up and thrusting her fist in the air.

* * *

The Card Shark Quartet stood outside the strange shop, waiting. Sharp and Swindla looked bored, Cas couldn't stand still, but Rounder had made it clear that they were not to make any moves until the girls came out of the shop.  
"Are you sure the Pretty Cure are even inside?"  
Swindla said, examining her fingernails.  
"I wish I brought a file."  
She said under her breath.

"You can worry about those later, Swindla. And yes, the Pretty Cure Warriors are in there. I can sense Cure Poker's energy. Ever sense she broke my seal, her being from the Land of Cards makes it easy to track her down."  
Rounder said. It was the only downside to his seal. Though he never expected Cure Poker to be transported to the Human World. He used that magic to stall her so he could kill her.  
'_That stupid rat.'  
_He thought, memories of the small white mouse flying in front of his face and stalling him long enough to escape with Cure Poker.

The door finally opened and the four girls walked out from the shop. They didn't notice the Quartet at first. The blonde was the first to notice.  
"What are you creeps doing here?!"  
Kichi cried.

"Creeps?! Who you callin' creeps?!"  
Cas shouted.  
Swindla rolled her eyes at Cas while Sharp immediately prepared himself for battle.  
"Don't worry about their words, Simple Cas."  
Rounder said, his voice cloyingly sweet to calm the large man.  
"Think of them as punching bags."  
He heard Cas crack his knuckles.  
"Sure thing. That pretty blue one is mine."  
Cas said, his burnt orange eyes burning holes into Audrey.

"Swindla-"  
"The green one is mine. We know whom we're fighting, and we know you have a score to settle with Poker. Don't lecture us, Rounder."  
Swindla said. She eyed Madoka with disgust.  
"Women should _not _dress so boyish."

"Girls! Let's Transform!"  
Kichi said, Darling poofing into her cellphone form.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"

"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"  
"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"  
"The Risky Beginning Move!" Cure Poker!"  
"Playing For Everyone's Hearts! Pretty Cure Shuffle!"

The four girls struck a pose after their roll call. The quartet did not waste any time after the girls had transformed. Cas charged for Royal, Sharp dashed for Trump, Swindla leapt after Straight and Rounder and Poker were the only ones that didn't move right away.  
"We've been ordered to take out the four of you today. Prepare to meet your end, Pretty Cure!"  
Rounder shouted.

* * *

Fighting was going on all around the park. Luckily for Pretty Cure, there were no passers by that could get harmed. Sharp and Trump exchanged punches in extremely close combat. The two were even. Sharp would jab and Trump would dodge. Trump would swing her fist forward while Sharp would block it with his arm.  
"Just give up, Cure Trump! This is a fight that you can't win!"  
Trump didn't say anything right away. She knew he wasn't talking about them just fighting hand to hand. He was talking about the goal he and the rest of the Quartet had. She couldn't let that happen.

"We have to protect Earth in order to save the Land of Cards! We won't let you get away with destroying places of peace!"  
Trump shouted.  
Sharp jabbed once more, but Trump ducked, she placed her open palms on his stomach, and pink energy glowed from her hands. In an instant, Sharp was blown backwards from Trump's burst of energy.

* * *

Cas was chasing around Royal as he punched the ground behind her. Royal elegantly jumped every time his fist met the hard earth.  
"We'll be the strongest out dere! Everyone will tremble when dey see us!"  
Cas shouted, punching downwards once more.  
Royal jumped and grabbed the large man's muscular wrist. With all her might she flung Cas over her shoulder.

"Power isn't everything! Fear is not an effective tool to get what you want!"  
Royal began kicking at Cas.  
"Pretty Cure Kick!"  
Royal shouted, kicking hard at Cas's side. He slid to the side, but Royal's kick only made him angrier.

* * *

"Women need to look beautiful! They need to look presentable to get the respect they deserve! And if they look like a man, no one will respect women!"  
Swindla shouted, firing black pink orbs of energy at Straight.  
Straight managed to punch and kick some of the orbs back Swindla's way, but some of them hit her, causing her to stumble and fall.

"Screw thinking that way!"  
Straight yelled. She charged for Swindla, and began to punch at Swindla rather swiftly.  
"I want to wear clothes that are comfortable. The only way I need to get respect is how I act and present myself, not by the way I look."  
Straight made for a roundhouse kick, and sent Swindla flying backwards. If looks could kill, Straight would have been dead instantly. Swindla's eyes seethed.  
"Ha! Clothes hold more power than your stupid comfort and actions. They're a symbol of status! They're a symbol of wealth! If you don't look beautiful, you're nothing!"

Swindla's words were venom, but Straight wasn't listening. The two charged for one another.

* * *

"Give it up, Cure Poker! The Gambling King will win! He always does!"  
Rounder shot electricity at Poker as he spoke.  
Poker dodged the attacks as much as she could. Her moves soon became sluggish. She was having a hard time keeping up with the speed of which Rounder fought her. But her arms were still blocking his punches. She wouldn't give up that easily.  
"But this time he won't! I made a promise to my Queen that I will protect her and everything that she cares for! _Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!_"  
Poker shouted, firing her finisher at Rounder.  
Rounder, however, deflected the white orbs with ease.

"You Pretty Cure don't have what it takes to defeat us! You're all struggling to keep up with our power! You won't win. You can't win."  
Poker was breathing heavily. They were significantly overpowered. Poker looked at the girls around her. They were fighting with all their might. But before she could focus on her own fight again, Rounder fell forward as Cure Trump punched him in the back.

"We can win!"  
Trump said, leaping over his figure. She stood strong in front of Poker.  
Poker looked up at Trump, who had extended her hand to help steady Poker. Poker looked at Sharp. The boy had collapsed and wasn't moving. She looked at Trump with admiration.  
Trump turned to Rounder.  
"With hope, there's no way we can lose. Especially not to someone like you."

Trump's gold eyes burned with fire as Rounder stood upright. Royal and Straight landed next to Poker and Trump. Both Swindla and Cas were both on the ground, unconscious.  
"Cut the crap! Hope? That's what you're fighting with? Pathetic."  
His voice was rough and hoarse from yelling.  
Rounder shot more lightning at the four girls, his eyes hard with anger. Poker acted quickly. She moved in front of the other three girls and thrust her hands forward, deflecting the lightning.  
"Hope is the strongest thing we can fight with. As long as we have it, we can protect Earth and save the Land of Cards!"

Rounder's lightning stopped and the four fairies all floated in front of their Cures, the track pads on their phones glowing. The four girls traced the gold plus sign on the screen.  
"_I'll show you my trump card! Trump Shot!_"  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy! Royal Breeze!_"  
"_Experience my shuddering hand! Straight Blaze!_"  
"_Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!_"

The four attacks all flew towards Rounder, but the leader of the Quartet had enough energy to disappear. The four attacks vanished in a flash of multicolored light. Rounder had gathered his group members at his feet.  
"This isn't over, Pretty Cure!"  
He shouted, his words heavy as he tried to catch his breath.  
In a flash of black-blue light, the four villains disappeared.

* * *

Wind swept through the hill, spreading more flower petals around. The sun was minutes away from setting and the four girls were sitting under the cherry blossom tree, shoulder to shoulder. There were people in the park again. Children playing with parents; joggers jogging casually on the sidewalks; Frisbees being thrown into the mouths of dogs.

"Um…"  
Yui's voice was soft.  
"I just really do want to thank each of you."  
She said, leaning her head back on the tree, as she had done so many times before. She closed her eyes, a small smile spreading on her face. She felt truly happy in that moment.

"I didn't have a lot of faith in myself. I was scared to be a Pretty Cure Warrior, even if it was my biggest dream."  
Yui's heartbeat had quickened. It felt like she was confessing a secret she didn't want known.  
"But I'm glad I met you all."  
Kichi, sitting on Yui's right, placed her hand on Yui's. She too was smiling, and Audrey and Madoka, sitting on the outside of their huddle, looked inwards to Kichi and Yui.  
"Like we said earlier, Yui. You're not alone anymore."

Heads nodded, and small laughs erupted from the girls. Yui opened her eyes once more, taking in the activity going on in the park below her. The sun had set, though its rays could still be seen, just beyond the horizon. Her mouth opened, though she didn't say anything right away.  
"It's good to be a part of a team. Especially with a great leader!"  
Kichi, Audrey and Madoka all looked at Yui, eye brows raised and questions formed on their lips.  
"Who's the leader?"  
Kichi asked for the three of them.  
"Why, you are, Kichi! I don't think I could lead the four of us, honestly. But there's something about the way you took command just now. It makes me want to be a better Warrior. All those in favor of Kichi being the leader?!"  
Yui said, joy in her words.  
"AYE!"  
Yui, Madoka and Audrey thrust their fists into the air, as Kichi looked around, a blank expression on her face.

Kichi pushed herself up, spinning to face her friends.  
"Well then! I guess I better lead you all the best way I can!"

* * *

Preview:

Kichi: Aaah! Guys, the Choir Club is putting on an awesome performance today!  
Audrey: I love listening to our Choir Club!  
Kichi: It makes me wish I could sing!  
Yui: So sing, Kichi!  
Madoka: You wouldn't want that.  
Audrey: They're singing about Pretty Cure!  
Kichi: Oh yeah?! How exciting! What are they singing? … "I hate Pretty Cure?!"

_Next time on Pretty Cure Shuffle!: "Singing to The Choir… 'I Hate Pretty Cure'?!"_


	8. Singing to the Choir!

"Hey, have you heard about those Pretty Cure Girls?"  
"Yeah! They're like, saving the town from those crazy monsters, right?"  
"Wow, Kounchi's own superheroes. Who would have thought?!"  
Kichi was silently listening to the conversation about Pretty Cure. It was taking a large amount of energy for her to not get involved  
"What's so cool about them anyway? They aren't all that great…"  
A new voice said.

Kichi looked in the direction the voice came. The voice belonged to Niijima Nori, a member of the Choir Club. She had short, dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail that made her hair seem a little spiky. Her burnt orange eyes gave the impression that she had heard much about Pretty Cure, but didn't care about them at all.  
"What are you talking about, Niijima-san?"  
"Yeah! The Pretty Cures are awesome!"

"Alright, alright. Settle down class. I know this is just homeroom, but there are a few things that need to be announced."  
Kawata-sensei said. He was one of the younger teachers at the school, but he managed to have good control over his class. His soft, brown eyes relaxed as they landed on Nori.  
"Niijima-san."  
Kawata-sensei said. The girl stood and made her way up to the front of the class.  
"Good morning, class."  
Niijima said, bowing deeply to the class.

When she stood back upright, she seemed almost nervous. Her expression seemed uncertain and her shoulder shook a little. The entire classroom had their eyes on her; the only empty desk was the one she just got up from.  
"PleasecometotheChoirConcertonSunday."  
Niijima said. The words had just flown out of her mouth. Kichi's hand shot straight up.  
"Could you say that again, Nori-san?"  
The class murmured in agreement. Nori took a deep breath.  
"Please come to the Choir Concert on Sunday."

Nori bowed once more and made her way back to her desk. She sat down and her shoulders slumped. Even though it wasn't that serious, it was obvious she was upset with herself for messing up. She took another deep breath and looked up to Kawata-sensei to listen to the other announcements before class started.

* * *

Episode 8: _Singing to the Choir… "I Hate Pretty Cure?!"_

* * *

The lunch bell had rung and tables were pushed together as students ate lunch. Kichi, Audrey, Madoka and Yui made their way outsite, so that their fairy partners could fly around and play. They sat down at a stone picnic table just in front of the tennis courts. There was a green net in the fence that separated the courts from the picnic table, allowing the girls some privacy. Short, sharp shouts could be heard coming from the tennis courts to show that people were practicing.  
"So should we all go to the Choir Concert on Sunday?"  
Kichi asked, poking around her bento.  
"I've always loved our Choir Club. We so many good singers at school it makes me jealous."  
She continued, taking a bit out of a piece of chicken.  
"Why are you jealous~lingu?"  
Darling asked.  
"Because Kichi can't sing."  
Madoka said flatly.

"I can too! I'm just a little tone deaf…"  
Kichi said defensively, crossing her arms and turning her head away from Madoka.  
"I can teach you how to sing~lingu!"  
"What? You can teach me, Darling?"  
"Of course~lingu!"  
Darling took in a deep breath, but before she could sing, a voice calling for the group of girls caused her to freeze.  
"Kichi-san!"

Kichi turned to see Nori running up to their table.  
"Ah! Nori-san! What brings you out here?"  
Nori stepped into the picnic area, the shadow of the awning covering her face as she did.  
"Well, I was out here to see my sister. She's practicing in the tennis courts right now. I always like to watch her when I get a chance."  
"Oh, that's right. Your sister is Niijima-senpai, right? The tennis club captain?"  
Audrey asked, no longer interested in the piece of broccoli she was poking at.

"That's right! When we transferred here two years ago, Onee-chan decided she wanted to suddenly do tennis. Turns out she had a real talent for it. She became captain at the beginning of the school year."  
"It must be nice to be that talented at something."  
Kichi said, putting her chin in her hands.  
"Kichi, you're being overdramatic. You wouldn't have gotten the part of Ophelia in _Hamlet_ if you weren't talented."  
Audrey said.  
Kichi smiled.  
"I know. I just wanted to hear someone call me talented."  
"Kichi…"

"Um…"  
Yui had finally spoken after being quiet the whole conversation. She looked confused; brows furrowed and a slight frown could be seen.  
"What's tennis?"

* * *

The girls walked into the tennis court. Only two girls were seen playing. One girl had black pigtails; the other had sandy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Both girls were breathing hard, sweat making their hair cling to the side of their face. They wore the high school's tennis practice outfits. The middle school and the high school had to share the courts. The tennis clubs weren't big enough at both schools to garner courts at each school.

The two girls were seen hitting the yellow ball back and forth. Yui took it all in. So this was tennis. It seemed simple enough to Yui, but the way the two girls were playing –with such intensity and focus– made Yui think again about how simple the game truly might be.  
The girl with the sandy brown hair noticed the five girls standing at the entrance of the court.  
"Akane! Let's take a break. My sister's here."  
She said to her partner. Nori's older sister made her way over to the five girls, while her partner went to another side of the court.  
"Nori-chan! Here to watch me practice again? Who are these girls? New friends?"  
"I wouldn't say new friends… They're in my class though! Girls,"  
Nori said, gesturing to Kichi and the others.  
"This is my older sister, Iyari."

The four girls bowed to Iyari.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Niijima-senpai."  
Audrey said.  
Iyari bowed back, though not as deep.  
"Same here."  
Iyari grabbed a bottle of water not far from where the group was standing and downed it within seconds.  
"So,"  
She said, wiping her mouth.  
"You four coming to Nori's concert on Sunday?"

"Onee-chan…"  
Nori said sheepishly, looking away from her older sister.  
"What? I can't help get people hear you sing?"  
Nori didn't answer, but she seemed to ease herself.  
"We will definitely be there!"  
Audrey said, hoping to stop any sibling bickering before it started.  
"The middle school's choir club is so wonderful. I wish I could sing as well as they can."  
Kichi said.  
"I do too. Mom and dad can both sing really well, but I wasn't blessed with a knack for singing, unfortunately."  
Iyari said.

"Oh, by the way, Nori. Have you been practicing?"  
Iyari asked, turning her attention to her sister.  
"Of-of course! Why wouldn't I be?"  
"Hey, calm down. I was just double-checking. You think you'll be ready by Sunday? I heard you having some trouble with part of the music last night. Is it the solo? Are you worried about messing it up? Because if you are, I don't think-"  
"Don't worry about it!"  
Nori snapped.  
"I've been practicing. In fact,"  
Nori said, turning on her heel.  
"I'm going to practice right now."

"Yay! Go for broke, little sis!"  
"You're always saying that. I hate it when you say that…"  
Nori mumbled as she exited the court.

* * *

"Dammit!"  
Rounder roared as he flipped over his card table. Sharp and Cas backed away from their angry leader. Swindla looked in Rounder's direction lazily, stirring some sort of cocktail. The casino they occupied was still dark, except for the three spot lights that shown over the bar, the roulette table and Rounder's card table. Rounder left the light of his card table, searching for more things to destroy.

Grunts and crashing were the only things heard for the next few moments. Sharp leaned back on the roulette table, his face looking tired. But he was just as angry as Rounder. The Pretty Cure should not have been that tough when they fought them. Three of them were brand new, and one of them might as well have been inactive for two years. How were they so strong?

Sharp grabbed the roulette ball and examined it between his index finger and thumb. It was black with intricate red designs carved into it. Bored with it after just a few seconds, Sharp flicked the small ball away as another crash was heard.  
"Rounder's really that angry, huh?"  
He said, his tone casual.  
Swindla and Cas didn't respond with nothing more than shrugs and nods.

It had been a handful of days since they had to retreat. And the King hadn't assigned them to fight. The four were getting bored, and as the time from crash to crash increased, it sounded like Rounder was running out of things to ruin.

The casino was silent for once more. Sharp waited for another crash to be heard, but Rounder stepped back into the spotlight of his card table. He set it back up delicately, as if he hadn't just come from destroying other unseen things.

A door was heard being opened, and then shut in the distance. After a few seconds of listening for footsteps, Sharp noticed an Avari card float down from the ceiling. He smirked. No one else seemed to care or notice the card. He grabbed it before it hit the ground.  
"I'll see you three later."  
In a puff of dark green smoke, Sharp was gone.

* * *

The girls had a small conversation with Iyari after Nori left. Iyari talked about some worries she had about the tennis club's budget from the school, to singing, to classes, what high schools the girls are thinking about attending. The bell rang for the girls to go back to class, and the day went by fairly uneventful.

That evening, Kichi sat at her homework table in the middle of her room. Her family's house wasn't big, just a simple one-story house in the suburbs just outside of the city. Kichi heard her older sister listening to music in the room next to hers as she spun her pencil around, absentmindedly staring at her homework. Darling was floating around the room, looking at different posters in Kichi had posted.  
"Uuugh."  
Kichi sighed, leaning back on to her bed.

"What's the matter, Kichi~lingu?"  
"I just don't feel like doing homework."  
Kichi took off her glasses and stared around her room. She liked to take them off and look at the world with her naturally bad sight. The blurs around her room were familiar, but she couldn't quite make them out in their entirety, even if she knew what they were.  
"I know! I never got a chance to give you a singing lesson today~lingu!"  
"Yes! Something to take my mind off of the homework!"  
Kichi said, standing up, thrusting her fist in the air, as she liked to do.

"Repeat after me~lingu. Laaa."  
"Laaa."  
"Laaaaaa la laaa!"  
"Laaaaaa LA LAAA!"  
"Kichi, you don't have to be that loud~lingu."  
Darling said, covering her ears.  
"Oh, sorry. Let's start over!"

The two sang for about half an hour before Kichi's father came into her room to tell her to finish her homework.  
"Do you like to sing, Darling?"  
Kichi asked, writing out an answer on one of her homework papers.  
"Singing is my favorite thing to do~lingu! It such a fun thing do do~lingu! I think it brings joy and smiles to a lot of people~lingu!"  
Darling said, joy filling her voice.  
"That's good."  
Kichi said softly.  
"I think everyone needs to have little hobbies that they enjoy. I hope Nori does well at the concert on Sunday. And I hope Iyari-senpai can continue to play tennis. And I hope Audrey continues to write, and Madoka continues to play basketball, and Yui continues to play chess!"

"And I hope you continue to act~lingu!"  
Darling said, landing on Kichi's head.  
"Aaaaah! I totally forgot! I need to be memorizing lines tooo! But I have so much homework to do…"

* * *

Sunday finally rolled around. The Choir Club concert was at 6:30PM. At 6:00, Audrey stood outside Kichi's house and rang the doorbell.  
"Coming!"  
Came Kichi's response from inside.  
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Kichi walked outside. She was wearing a simple pink skirt, a red top and a white cardigan.  
"Madoka and Yui said they would meet us at the school before the concert started."  
Audrey said.

The two girls walked down the street to the school as they did almost every morning. Kichi and Audrey had been living next to one another since they were diapers. They did almost everything together. From their houses, it was only a ten-minute walk to the school.  
"Audrey! Audrey! Listen! Darling has been teaching me how to sing!"  
"She's learned very well~lingu!"  
Darling floated up to Audrey's ear and whispered.  
"She's still a little tone deaf, but she's better than she was before~lingu."  
Audrey gave a small laugh.  
"Let's hear it then, Kichi!"

* * *

"Ugh. This town, I swear is so boring."  
Sharp said, lazily flying above Kounchi.  
"Am I even allowed to look for souls somewhere else?"  
He said absentmindedly.  
He found himself flying towards school.  
"I guess this is as good as any place to st-whoa."

Sharp had found one of the strongest readings of greed since he had arrived in the city.  
"That's a crazy amount of greed… I wonder what for."  
The greed was oozing from a girl with sandy brown hair amongst a crowd of people heading into the school. She was wearing a purple dress and was talking to another girl with darker brown hair in a black dress.  
"Gotcha."

* * *

Nori took a deep breath in and let it out. The concert was minutes away from starting, and even though her solo was towards the end of the concert, her hands shook with nerves. A hand was placed on her shoulder; Nori turned.  
"Don't worry little sis."  
Iyari said, smiling at her younger sister.  
"I heard you this morning. You were really singing beautifully. I know you can do it once more."  
Nori gave a small smile. Her sister's words were encouraging, for sure. But that still didn't help much with the nerves.

"Hey,"  
Iyari said, picking up on what her sister was thinking.  
"If nothing else, do it because it's fun, okay?"  
Nori's hands stopped shaking. She looked into her sister's maroon eyes. Her smile widened as she hugged Iyari tightly.  
"Thank you, Onee-chan!"  
Nori said.  
Iyari broke their embrace and gave a thumb's up.  
"Go for broke!"  
Iyari said, winking.

* * *

"La laaaaaaaaaa."  
Kichi stopped singing as Yui and Madoka gave a small applause.  
"Well who knew that in just 2 days Darling actually managed to tame that voice of yours."  
Madoka said.  
"I think you can still improve, but you're not horrible."  
Yui said.  
"Yui… So cold."  
Kichi said, feigning a tearful response.  
"What…? I was just being honest."  
Yui muttered to herself.  
The lights went down and the curtain went up.

* * *

The program was going quite well, and even Sharp found himself enjoying the performance. But he was here on a mission. The curtains went down and a fair amount of people got out of their seats. Apparently something called an intermission was happening. He knew it was his time to act. He kept his eyes on the girl with sandy brown hair, her greed still an alarmingly high level. The card seemed to be attracted to her.

In fact, when Sharp came close to her, the card shot out of his hand and clung to Iyari. Iyari grabbed the card only to be met with a blast of black/red energy.  
"AVARI! TAKE YOUR GREED AND FULFILL YOUR DESIRES!"  
Sharp shouted.  
The light died down and a large tennis racket monster appeared.  
"AVARIIII."  
It roared.

* * *

Kichi, Audrey, Madoka and Yui ran into the foyer of the auditorium, people screaming and running away from the giant tennis racket.  
"THE TENNIS CLUB IS SUCCESSFUL! WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT OUR CLUBS BEING DISCONTINUED? YOU SHOULD GIVE US MORE MONEY THAN THE OTHER CLUBS!"  
The monster's voice was deafening.  
It fired enormous tennis balls everywhere that exploded when they made contact with something. The foyer was rather empty, and the girls looked at one another and nodded.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"  
"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"  
"The Risky Beginning Move! Cure Poker!"  
"Playing for everyone's hearts! Pretty Cure Shuffle!"

The girls all stood before Sharp, ready to fight.  
"Oh, so you decided to show up after all? You know,"  
Sharp said, pacing in front of them, the Avari stomping around and firing tennis balls everywhere.  
"You really gave us a good wallop the last time we met."

Sharp seemed to be specifically talking to Cure Trump now.  
"I can't let that happen again. AVARI! Destroy the Pretty Cure!"

"What's going on?!"

A voice cried, double doors bursting open into the foyer.  
Nori stood in the doorway, looking at the scene of destruction before her.  
"Wh-what?"

"Miss! Please, get out of here! It's not safe for you!"  
Trump said.  
Nori was about to protest before a tennis ball exploded to her right. She shielded herself from it, but she didn't run off as Trump suggested.  
"Is everyone else safe?"  
Nori shouted.  
"Everyone seems to be out of the building! We suggest that you do the same, miss!"  
Royal said.

As she did, Straight and Poker charged forward to the Avari. Royal turned to Trump, had a silent exchange, and she ran off to fight the Avari as well. Trump ran for Nori.  
"Not so fast, Cure Trump!"  
Sharp exclaimed, running in her direction.  
Trump had little time to prepare herself for Sharp's attack. Ducking, she managed to dodge some punches, but Sharp was prepared, and kicked at her side. Trump fell down a few feet from him. She got back up quickly, though she was clutching her side.

"THE TENNIS CLUB SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE DISBANDED!"  
The Avari said, firing more tennis balls out of thin air."Is…Is that…? Onee-chan?"  
"Is…Is that…? Onee-chan?"Nori said, horrified.  
Nori said, horrified.  
Extending the arm she wasn't using to clutch her side, Trump stood in front of Nori.  
"Miss, please. We need you to run. It's not safe here."  
"Is that my sister?!"  
Nori yelled, her burnt orange eyes glistening with tears.

"I don't know, miss."  
Trump said, taking in a pained breath.  
"Please. Run."  
Sharp begun a volley of green energy orbs. They all hit Trump and she was forced backward. Nori caught Trump as she fell backwards.  
"I'm fine."  
She said, her teeth gritted.

"This is boring, Cure Trump. Put up a better fight!"  
Trump was standing upright now. She kept her gaze on Sharp.  
"How dare you come and ruin the Choir Club's big night!"  
"What?"  
"The Choir Club put a lot of time and effort into this performance, and I won't allow you to continue to ruin it!"  
Sharp rolled his eyes.  
There were shouts of pain behind him. Royal, Straight and Poker had all been thrown into a wall by the Avari.

"Who cares? Music isn't necessary. It's nice to listen to, sure. But it's not something to make a night out of."  
Sharp said, giving a smug chuckle.  
"You're wrong!"  
Trump shouted.  
"Music deserves to be appreciated!"  
Royal said, charging for Sharp.  
Sharp deflected Royal's advances, but wasn't prepared for Straight's kick to his back.

"If you put effort and hard work into anything, it deserves to be recognized!"  
She said, her neon green eyes hard and burning.  
Poker snuck up on Sharp and elbowed him in the side.  
"That's right! And to laugh and say that it's not necessary is unforgivable!"

Sharp staggered away from the Warriors.  
"Music is something that brings smiles to peoples faces! That's what Darling told me, and I believe her!  
Trump said.

Taking advantage of the distracted Cures, the Avari fired more tennis balls at the four girls.  
"I WILL BE GIVEN WHAT IS OWED TO ME!"  
The Avari shouted.  
The four girls looked at the tennis racket monster. It's last statement seemed to be about something different than the tennis club.  
"Avari! Finish them off!"  
Sharp said, disappearing in a wisp of murky green smoke.

Trump snatched Darling from her waist, and looked at the small pink face on the lower half of the phone.  
"I'll protect music for anyone who loves it. Let's finish this, okay?"  
"Okay~lingu!"  
Darling's track pad lit up as Trump drew a golden cross on it.  
"_I'll show you my trump card! Trump Shot!_"  
The pink bullet flew from Trump's extended index fingers and hit the Avari in the red A that sat atop the tennis racket's boarder. In an explosion of pink smoke, Iyari appeared and softly landed on the ground. The Avari card fluttered down to the ground and burned to ashes when it touched the carpet.

All the damage that was done by the Avari disappeared, and everything went back to normal. The girls all high fived.  
"Just a second!"  
Nori said.  
She was kneeling at the Iyari's side, clutching her sister so hard her knuckles were white.  
"How could you let this happen?!"  
She demanded.

The four Cures looked at one another, confused.  
"What do you mean?"  
Trump asked.  
"You let my sister get turned into a monster!"  
The girls were quiet.  
"We didn't mean for that to happen, miss. That's what we're trying to prevent."  
Royal said.  
"You should be grateful that she didn't suffer a worse fate!"  
Straight said, her words sounding annoyed.  
"Jeez. No appreciates anything around here anymore."  
Straight said under her breath.

"Miss, we're here to protect the earth from those people that turned your sister into a monster."  
Poker said.  
"Well you shouldn't let people get turned into these things in the first place!"  
Nori wiped her eyes, her burnt orange eyes full of anger and frustration.  
"My sister shouldn't have had to have that happen to her!"  
Nori paused.  
The four Cures were speechless.

"I hate you!"

"What?"  
Poker gasped.

"I hate Pretty Cure!"

* * *

After all the guests were allowed back in the building, the concert went by flawlessly. Nori pulled her solo off beautifully. Iyari cheered and applauded the loudest. She didn't show any signs of being turned into an Avari.

When the concert was over, the four girls left rather quickly.  
"Are we really not doing our job correctly?"  
Kichi said, her voice somber.  
The other three didn't say anything right away.  
"Of course we are."  
Yui said.  
"We have no control over who the Card Shark Quartet are going to target. Yes, it is our duty to protect this Earth. And I honestly do feel like a part of me has somewhat failed after seeing someone be turned into an Avari. But…"  
Yui paused.  
"As long as we return that Avari to whom they once were, then I'm happy. Because while we may not have been able to prevent them from turning into a monster, we were able to prevent them from becoming a slave to the Gambling King."

"Kichi,"  
Audrey said, lacing her fingers through Kichi's hand.  
The street was rather empty, and the streetlights had turned on, lighting their way back to Kichi's house.  
"Don't let Nori-san's words get you down. She was just upset. She cares for her sister dearly. I can't blame her for being mad at us, honestly."  
Audrey squeezed Kichi's hand, hoping to tell her that things were going to be okay.  
Madoka threw her arm around Kichi's shoulder.  
"Besides, people that hate us is only a sign of us doing something right!"

* * *

"I hate you! I hate Pretty Cure!"  
The King opened his eyes.  
"Oh?"  
He said.  
The words echoed in his throne room once more.  
"This should be interesting."  
He said, his tone amused.

He snapped his fingers, as the words were being sounded in the room once again. The words turned into a bright orange light. The Gambling King gathered the light in his hands. His hands glowed with black energy, closing them around the orange light.  
When he let them go, a dark orange, pentagonal shaped gem rested in the palm of his hand.  
"This should be very interesting."  
He said, before his laugh began to echo in his throne room.

* * *

Preview

Kichi: Uuuugghhh. I can't believe someone hates us. I just want to eat my feelings.  
Madoka: No! Don't do that!  
Audrey: Ice cream doesn't sound too bad right now.  
Madoka: Audrey, don't encourage her!  
Yui: I could go for a crepe with chocolate sauce and whipped cream right now.  
Madoka: No, no, no!

_Next time on Pretty Cure Shuffle!: Get Healthy! Madoka's Train-All-Day Session!_


	9. Get Healthy! A Train-All-Day Session!

_BEEP! BEEP! BE-click_.  
A hand rested on the clock for just a second before retreating into green, ruffled covers. A few seconds later, the covers were pulled back as Madoka sat upright in her bed, arms above her head as she stretched. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with balled fists, yawned, and swung her legs over the side of her bed as she stood. She never wore extravagant pajamas to bed. Just a tank top and a pair of short shorts were comfortable enough for Madoka.

She yawned once more, her foot brushing against a small, blue, five-pound dumbbell. Bending over, Madoka picked the dumbbell up with her right hand and began to lift it as she walked through the upper floor of her house. Her parents and younger siblings were still asleep, as it was Sunday. Keroro had woken shortly after Madoka had and floated all the way downstairs with her, before falling asleep on the kitchen counter once more.

Bright yellow bananas were resting in a brown, wicker fruit basket. Madoka plucked a banana off, peeled it, and absentmindedly ate it while she resumed lifting the dumbbell.  
"Madoka~roro." Keroro said, rubbing his huge dark green eyes.  
"Why do you get up s'early on Sundays? 'S your only day off from school~roro." He asked sleepily.  
"Fitness only has two rest days a week, Keroro. And Sunday is not one of them."  
Madoka said, finishing her banana and dropping it into a trashcan.  
By now Madoka had transferred the dumbbell to her left hand, her arm going up and down, up and down still.

"You're more than welcome to join my on my jog, Keroro." Madoka said, making her way back to the staircase to change out of her bedclothes. When she disappeared from the room, Keroro found himself fully awake.  
"…Fitness?"

* * *

Episode 9: "_Get Healthy! Madoka's Train-All-Day Session!_"

* * *

The throne room was silent. Pacing in front of the empty throne, the Gambling King turned over the orange gem he created. Dark, greedy power filled him every time he looked at it. He wasn't entirely sure why he had created it, but the words that created the stone rang in his mind.  
"_I hate you! I hate Pretty Cure!"  
_The King had to admit; he was beginning to get annoyed with them himself. His lips, normally seen in a straight line, had fallen downward, turning into a now permanent scowl. His red eyes, usually half open, were now open wide, irritation flashing in them occasionally.

His fingertips grew white as he clutched the gem in his hand tighter.  
"Pretty Cure…" His voice was soft, but his tone was angry. He walked back and sat down on the red and black throne. "CAS!" He shouted.  
A few moments later, Cas's hulking figure walked into the throne room.  
"Make use of those muscles and take care of Pretty Cure."  
The King's free hand swirled around, black energy appearing in the palm of his hand. The Avari card appeared, and in one swift flick, the card flew towards Cas.

The large man caught the card in his big hands.  
"Don' worry about it boss. I'll take care of da Pretty Cure."

* * *

Hands on the clock read "10:14," and the door opened, revealing Madoka, her hair clinging to her face because of the sweat, Keroro perched on her shoulder. Madoka's eyes went right to the clock.  
"Not bad!" She said, smiling.  
"Two minutes shorter than last week."  
"Two minutes shorter than last week~roro?" Keroro asked, floating off of her shoulder.  
"Every Sunday, after my warm up, I like to take a jog around the town. Last week it took me an hour and sixteen minutes. This week it only took an hour and fourteen minutes!"

"Ah! Madoka! You're back."  
"Good morning, mom!" Madoka said, throwing open the refrigerator door. Her eyes searched the contents, finally resting on a liter of water. Screwing the top off, and throwing her head back, Madoka gulped down the water.  
"Aaah. That tastes really good."  
"Madoka?" Madoka's mother asked.  
"Where you talking to someone when you came in this morning?"  
Madoka froze, suddenly aware of Keroro floating above her head.

Madoka's mother had her back to her, thankfully. Madoka snatched Keroro and shoved him into the pocket of her tracksuit jacket.  
"N-no mom. I was just telling myself I had beat last week's run around town by two minutes." She said. She wasn't lying, exactly. Luckily for Madoka, her mother didn't say anything.  
"Oh, by the way, Kichi-chan called while you were out. She said she wanted to see if you were busy today."  
Wiping water that had dribbled down from her bottle, Madoka paused for a moment, thinking about her plans.  
"I'll call her back and talk to her. Thanks mom!" Madoka said, pecking her mother on the cheek before running upstairs.

* * *

"Mmmmmmm. Chula-san these cookies are sooo good!" Kichi said, taking a bite out of a vibrant purple, star shaped cookie.  
"Thank you!" Chula said, in her human form, setting more sweets on the table.  
"Try this crepe I just learned how to make. If you three like it, I'll sell it at the shop!"  
"It looks amazing, Chula!" Yui said, taking a bite of the triangular pastry.  
"Mmm. Chocolate sauce." She said.  
"And extra whipped cream!" Audrey said, taking a swipe of the white foam on top of the plate.  
The bell on the door rang as it opened. Madoka walked into the shop.

"Chula, I wish you could make this kind of food for me all the time." Kichi said, leaning back in her chair.  
"You'll get fat if you eat nothing but sweets, Kichi." Madoka said, pulling a chair up to the table.  
"Ah! Madoka! You finally came!" Kichi said, sitting upright.  
"How did your Sunday morning jog go?" Audrey asked, nibbling at a cookie.  
"Madoka shaved two minutes off her goal~roro!" Keroro said excitedly.

"It must be nice to have goals like that." Kichi said, taking a big bite of the crepe.  
"How often do you work out, Madoka?" Yui asked, Chula leaning next to her to pour a cup of tea for the four girls.  
"I like to work out at most five days a week. But sometimes it's good to just work out two or three days a week. Even though I'm on the basketball team, but sometimes I like to give myself a bit extra." Madoka answered, taking a swig from her water bottle.  
"Madoka works really hard~roro."  
"By the way," Madoka said, eyeing the cookies and the crepe on the table. "Have you all been eating nothing but cookies this morning?"

"Yup! It was the best Sunday breakfast." Kichi said, reaching for another cookie.  
"Ah!" Madoka said, snatching the plate.  
"If that's all you've been eating all morning, then it's time to stop! It's not healthy to have all those cookies for breakfast, Kichi!" Madoka scolded. She handed the plate to Chula  
"But they taste so gooooodddduuuhhh!" Kichi complained.  
"Well… we have been eating them all morning. Madoka has a point." Audrey said, shoving the plate with the crepe to the middle of the table.  
"Yeah… I think it's time we did something else." Yui agreed.

"I've got just the thing in mind!" Madoka said.

* * *

An hour later, Yui, Audrey and Kichi had all changed into work out wear. They all stood in the park as Madoka stood in front of them.  
"Is… Is this all really necessary?" Kichi asked nervously.  
"It is." Madoka said simply.  
Kichi, Audrey and Yui all looked at one another before shrugging in defeat.  
"But not only that," Madoka said, crossing her arms. "I feel like we need to get stronger."  
There was a tense pause. There was more to what Madoka meant.  
"That Avari we last fought? Niijima-senpai? There was something different about that monster." Madoka's voice was stern.  
"Oh yeah… Her greed was that she wanted more funding for the tennis club," Kichi started.  
"But then she said something about getting what was deserved." Audrey said.  
"It must have been something subconscious that she didn't know she was wanting." Yui offered.

"Anyway," Madoka said. "The point is Avaris are going to get stronger. I think we all knew that. Plus,"  
Madoka paused, eyeing her friends, Kichi particularly.  
"One needs to work off the dozen cookies she ate for breakfast."  
"Hehehe…" Kichi laughed weakly.

* * *

Cas walked around the town in a disguise Swindla told him to put on. It made him blend in with the crowd, but he didn't care what he looked like, or what people thought of him. His shirt was tight, revealing curved muscles and almost looked like the shirt was painted on him. People were purposefully moving out of his way; his expression brooding and a frown on his face.  
"This place is so boring." He mumbled to himself.  
But he kept walking down the street. He stopped when the smell of food hit his nose.  
"Oooh. Dat smells so good."

Cas turned his Mohawk'd head in the direction of the smell.  
It was coming from a small street vendor set up. The sign above the shop read "takoyaki" both in romanji and traditional Japanese characters.  
"Hey, yo, Mista Vendor. Gimme some a dem takoyakis."  
"An order of takoyaki coming right up! That'll be six hundred yen."  
"Yen…?"  
"Yeah, yen. You gotta pay up, mister, or no foo-hey! Where are you going?" The vendor called out.  
Cas had turned away at the notion of money. Despite living in a casino, he and he Card Shark Quartet didn't play with money. They played with souls they had captured from Avari cards. Money was below him.

Cas pulled out the card from his pocket. It didn't seem to be attracted to anyone. Sharp had told him the story of how his Avari card practically made itself into a monster from the last time. Cas wondered if his card would do the same.  
"This place sucks." He muttered, shoving the card back into his pocket and walking down the street.

* * *

"…Four…Three…Two…One. And release!" Madoka said.  
Kichi, Audrey and Yui all let go of their legs and fell back on their hands. The fairies all were doing variations of Madoka's stretches in a tree near the four girls.  
"Stretching hurts." Kichi complained, rubbing the backs of her thighs and legs.  
"But I feel good, actually." Audrey said, standing up.  
"Now that we're warmed up, what next, Madoka?" Yui asked, Audrey offering a hand to help her up.  
Madoka stood up, brushing dirt and grass of her clothing.

"We're not completely warmed up yet! The last thing in my warm up is jumping jacks."  
"Jumping jacks?!" Kichi complained, letting herself fall on her back.  
"Kichi, come on, stand up. Madoka is doing this because we need to be fit and ready for the Card Shark Quartet!" Yui said, offering Kichi a hand.  
"But I'm so tired from just stretching."  
"Kichi! Stand up!" Audrey said sharply.  
"Fine…" Kichi said begrudgingly.  
"You can do it Kichi~lingu!" Darling encouraged.

The girls did twenty jumping jacks. Kichi stopped after ten, only to be met with yelling from the other three.  
"I just want to eat cookies for the rest of the day, is that so much to ask for?"  
"Why are you so against working out, Kichi?" Yui asked.  
"Because I don't like sweating and I feel like people will judge me!"  
"Judge you for working out?" Madoka asked.  
"Yeah… I'd rather work out in the privacy of my room." Kichi said.  
"Well that's not what we're doing today! I promise I'll make it fun, Kichi! Besides, you're an actress; a performer! There's no way you could be embarrassed by exercising!" Madoka said, patting Kichi on the back.

* * *

The girls did various other things after that. They did push ups, sit ups, and lunges to name a few. All of which, however, Kichi told Madoka were not fun. Kichi, Yui and Audrey were all breathing hard after the lengthy set of lunges they did. Like they did with stretching, the fairies joined in on doing the exercises with the girls.  
"Okay, get some water. We'll start back up in ten minutes." Madoka said, needing some water herself.  
The sun shone brightly on them all, and sweat glistened as the girls knocked their heads back to gulp down water.  
"Can we do something fun now, Madoka?" Kichi asked.  
She had gotten better about complaining as they trained. But still, the fact that Kichi was constantly telling her to make it fun was annoying Madoka. Madoka folded her arms in thought. Kichi was an actress.  
'_What could I do with that?' _Madoka thought.  
After rejecting all answers she thought up of, Madoka decided it was time to change her mindset. What else would get Kichi excited about working out? She was just about done with having them train for the day. The last thing on her list was a few laps around the park. Which Kichi would no doubt find boring.

"You said we're also training for Pretty Cure~roro." Keroro said, softly placing himself on Madoka's head.  
The light bulb finally went off. She drank a few sips of water and turned her attention to her comrades.  
"Okay, the final section in Madoka's Training Session is a jog around the park!"  
"Jogging?!" Kichi shouted.  
"But! This is no ordinary jog." Madoka said.  
"What kind of jog is it?" Yui asked.  
"For this jog, you have to make sure that me, the Madoka Avari does not finish 5 laps around the park before you do!" Madoka said trying her best to sound excited.  
Kichi's blond head jerked to face Madoka.

"The Madoka Avari?"  
"Yes! I've been turned into an Avari! And I want to beat Pretty Cure in a race!" Madoka said, her looking into Kichi's brown eyes. Kichi's eyes narrowed, and Madoka did the same.  
"Well," Kichi started. "We can't let that happen! Yui! Audrey! Let's run!"  
"Run away from the Keroro Avari too~roro!  
Kichi turned around and broke out into a sprint, running away from Madoka.

* * *

Cas soon realized that humans used money for everything in their life. As he made his way around the town, he realized people constantly had a varying level of greed. But none of them satisfied him enough to create an Avari. He turned a corner and saw that there was a park across the street from him. There was something in the park that piqued his interest.  
"Finally. I get some action in dis place." He said to himself, entering the park.

He soon recognized it as the park that he fought the Pretty Cure warriors not too long ago.  
"Darn Pretty Cures." He muttered.  
There were plenty of people in the park. He scanned the park, searching for what it was that drew him here in the first place. There was a small group of people that were exercising underneath a big tree. About twelve people were doing the same thing with dumbbells as they watched an instructor.

Cas narrowed in on the greed coming from one of the participants. He was able to hear what the greed was saying.  
"I will become buff! I'm going to get all of the dates when I lose all this weight." The greed whispered.  
Cas smirked and threw off his disguise, revealing his card shark outfit.  
He threw the card towards the man.  
"AVARI! TAKE YOUR GREED AND FULFILL YOUR DESIRES!" He shouted.  
The card latched on to the man and instantly he transformed into a large dumbbell monster.  
"AVARI!" It cried.  
The monster stomped around, sending the exercise group, and any other people that were in the park, running off away from it.  
"I'M GOING TO GET SO BUFF! AND THEN I'LL GET ALL THE DATES! NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO RESIST ME! I'LL BE SO POPULAR!"

* * *

The girls were just about to finish their last lap when they heard the Avari roaring and stomping around in the park.  
"Everyone! Stop! There's a real avari~roro!" Keroro cried.  
The four girls stopped running and saw the dumbbell monster not too far away from them.  
"Girls! Let's transform!" Kichi said, the fairies poofing into their cellphone forms.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"  
"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"  
"The Risky Beginning Move! Cure Poker!"  
"Playing for everyone's hearts! Pretty Cure Shuffle!"

The girls raced towards the Avari. Huge dumbbell fists crashed into the earth, sending clots of dirt flying and spraying shards of grass everywhere.  
"I'M GONNA GET SO BUFF!" The monster roared once again.  
The Avari glowed with a red light as its figure began to grow and get bigger.  
"So da Pretty Cures decided to show up, huh? Well, I gotta say, I'm not too happy about the last time I saw yous girls. Avari! Crush 'em like bugs!"  
The dumbbell monster swung its arms around, trying to swat the girls away.

"Like that's going to work!" Straight said.  
One of the dumbbell's fists slammed into her, but Straight managed to grab a hold of it. She wrapped her arms around the monster's cold metal skin as best she could. Her boots began to dig into the dirt as she steadied herself. Even though she had managed to capture the monster's fist, pain flared up in her chest where it initially hit her. The Avari's fist grew as a result, pushing Straight's arms off of it.  
"Girls! Be careful! When it hits something it's going to grow bigger!"

"Dat's right! Because da bigger da monster, da sooner I can crush you girls!" Cas mocked.  
Straight's arms strained as she tried to keep her hold on the monster. But the bigger it got, the harder it was for her to hold on to it. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to, Straight let go and punched the monster's arm away. It didn't seem to do much, but she was able to sprint away from it and head for Cas.  
"You guys just won't stop trying to take over this world, will you?" Straight said, punching at Cas.

The large man dodged Straight's advances with surprising speed.  
"O'course not! The Gambling King was to rule everything! And we hafta make sure da Boss gets what he wants!" Cas said, punching Straight square in the stomach.  
Straight flew backwards, landing on her back. Cas had punched the wind out of her. She took short, shallow breaths, trying to regain her composure.  
"We can't…let you…do that." Straight said between gasps.

* * *

Meanwhile, Trump, Poker and Royal all were trying their best to keep the Avari from rampaging too much.  
"I'M GONNA BE SO BUFF! I HAVE TO GET SO BUFF!"  
The Avari was slamming its fists into the ground, again causing the earth to break and fly off in different directions.  
"There's got to be some way to immobilize it!" Royal shouted.  
The Avari didn't move around very fast, but it's growing figure made it hard for the girls to make effective attacks at it. Its hands had become much bigger than the rest of its body, and the Avari was getting smart and using its big hands to block most of what the girls tried to throw its way.

"But how?!" Trump shouted.  
"We just have to get past those big hands! If we do that, its hands will be too big to get us if we're that close to it!" Poker responded.  
"I'm going to try something!" Royal said.  
She pulled Razor from her waist, his track pad lighting up. She drew their attack cross on the screen and blue wind surrounded her.  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy! Royal Breeze!"  
_Royal said, spinning around, collecting the wind in her hands. She flung her arms outward and the blue wind flew towards the monster. The Avari blocked it with one of its hands, but Royal had an idea as soon as the wind split in half. She swung her arms around, directing the wind towards the Avari's small lower half.

The powerful wind managed to knock the Avari on its back.  
"Yes!" Royal said.  
"Now just to finish you off!" Trump exclaimed.  
She was about to draw a cross herself when Cas came and knocked the three other girls backwards in a flurry of fists.

"Nuh uh. You're not gonna get dis one today." He said.  
His punches were strong, leaving Trump, Royal and Poker just as breathless as Straight.

Straight had managed to get herself up. Her stomach was still in pain, and her chest ached from the Avari's initial punch.  
"Straight. Don't push yourself~roro." Keroro said from Madoka's waist.  
Chest rising and falling heavily, Straight took a few steps forward while Cas was boasting to the other three. He was distracted. She could use that.  
"I know, Keroro," Straight said, placing a hand on her waist.  
"But he is taking advantage of a person's will to get fit and healthy. That's something I can't forgive." Straight said.

"I DESERVE TO HAVE FRIENDS!" The Avari's roar was almost deafening. "IF I'M BUFF, I WON'T BE LONELY ANYMORE."  
The Avari was beginning to cry the true feelings of the man it once was.  
Straight began to run as Trump, Royal and Poker all charged for the monster. They had to put a stop to this before it got any worse.  
"You three distract Cas!" Straight yelled. "I think I've got a way to take care of the Avari!"  
The other three warriors all changed course and headed for Cas. The Card Shark had a look of shock on his face when the girls suddenly appeared. Straight charged towards the Avari.

It still hadn't found its way back up, but it was still smashing things with its fists. The Avari finally realized that it wasn't using its legs at all and began kicking the ground beneath it. Its legs began to grow, but Straight was ready. The Avari stood straight up, ready to fight, but when it saw no one was around, it hesitated.

Straight had run right up under the Avari. It turned around, searching. Straight looked up. Now was the time.  
"Keroro, you ready?"  
"Ready~roro!"  
Straight traced a cross on Keroro's track pad, green flames dancing around her fists afterwards.  
"_Experience my crushing hand! Straight Blaze!"  
_Straight thrust her fists upward with the green flames.  
Fire spiraled around straight and the Avari. The Avari was soon engulfed in fire, and turned a shade of green.

With an explosion of green smoke, the man from the exercise group lay on the ground and the Avari card burned to ashes when it touched the grass.  
"Darn it!" Cas cursed, disappearing in a flash of orangey brown light.

* * *

Any craters the Avari left were miraculously restored to the vibrant green grass it was before the ordeal started. Kichi, Audrey, Madoka and Yui all sat underneath the cherry blossom tree right outside the cookie shop. Madoka took in a deep breath.  
"Good work today, you three." She said, throwing her arms around the three of them as best she could.  
"I'd say we trained enough for today."  
"Yes!" Kichi said, thrusting her fist in the air.  
"Don't act too excited now, Kichi." Madoka said, giving her a light nudge to the shoulder with her fist.  
"I know you wanted to eat cookies all day-"  
"I really did."  
"But I think you put in a good work out, Kichi. You too, Audrey and Yui." Madoka said, a small, but happy smile on her face.  
"And us too~roro!"  
"Yeah! We worked out too~de chu!"  
"It was fun~rayray!"  
"Yeah, you four did good too." Madoka said, grabbing Keroro.  
"How about we all go celebrate another Avari defeat with some protein bars?!" Madoka said.

"No! I want some cookies!" Kichi said.  
"I could go for some ice cream right now." Audrey added.  
"I want another of Chula's crepes, actually." Yui said.

"Wai-wait! You'll undo all the work we did today!" Madoka said.  
"So we'll just work out again next week!" Kichi teased.  
"You have to do it more often than that!" Madoka huffed.  
The three girls entered the cookie shop, leaving Madoka alone outside.  
"Wait! I'd like to have a cookie too! Let me in! Kiiichiii!"

* * *

_Preview:_

Kichi: Oh wow! Look!  
Madoka: At what? That work out set? It looks really nice!  
Kichi: No, not that!  
Yui: That chess set! I could definitely use my own.  
Kichi: No, not that! The hot guy!  
Audrey: The…hot guy? Oh… Wow, he is hot.  
Kichi, Madoka &amp; Yui: He's so hoooottt! Let's go talk to him!  
Audrey: Wait, I want to talk to him, too!

Next time on _Pretty Cure Shuffle!_: Have Courage, Audrey! The Flirtatious Beautiful Guy!


	10. Have Courage, Audrey!

_Author's note: As I wrote this episode, things turned out a bit differently than what I had planned. This episode differs from what you might have expected in the preview. So I've changed the title of this episode to accommodate._

* * *

The snap of a book closing echoed through the throne room. There was a glint of orange light as the Gambling King pulled his gem out of his pocket.  
"So this is ammonite," He said, eying the gem with a renewed interest. "Greed born from hate in a physical form."  
His words were soft, barely audible.  
"Who knew I was capable of creating such a thing with know knowledge of what it was…" His words trailed off.  
The book told him that mammonite was powerful, but dangerous if not handled properly. Possibilities flowed through his mind, wondering what he could do with this gem. The book told him that even if it was as big as the smallest coin could cause a fair amount of damage. He smirked as he pulled out an Avari card.

A corner of the card was placed just centimeters away when the King stopped himself.  
"No," He said, staring down at the gem.  
"It needs to be used for something bigger than that. The Pretty Cure would only find a way to power up and defeat a new kind of Avari."  
The Gambling King tossed the card away, sending it to the casino for one of the Card Sharks.  
"I need to create my own warrior with this."  
The girl that said she hated Pretty Cure flashed across the King's memory.  
"And I know just who could fit that role."

* * *

Episode 10: _Have courage, Audrey! Discord Among Friends?_

* * *

"Hey, did you hear Pretty Cure were seen at the park a few days ago?"  
"What, really?!"  
"Yeah! They saved some guy from being this rampaging dumbbell monster!"  
"Pretty Cure are the coolest!"

"Did you hear that?!" Kichi whispered quickly to Audrey, Madoka and Yui.  
"Who knew we'd be the topic of the morning conversation?" Audrey said, taking out their first period books from her school bag.  
"It sucks, because we're so popular, but no one knows that it's _us_ that's popular." Madoka said, her cheek resting on the palm of her hand.  
"I'll be honest," Yui said. "I'm not quite sure I know how I feel about the town knowing about us. Something about it is a little unsettling."

It was then that Nori sat down in her desk, just two desks in front of the four desks that the girls usually sat. All four sets of eyes shot to Nori. Whenever Pretty Cure became the topic of the conversation, Nori was always there to express her dislike for the group; how it was unforgivable of them that they allowed her sister to become a monster. It was no secret that she hated the group. Luckily for the class, they were spared those repeated, but biting comments. The swish of the sliding door opening could be heard, and Kawata-sensei strolled into the room.

"Okay class, settle down. I need to get homeroom started a little early today."  
The chit chatter died down. The class rep told the students to stand, bow, and sit back down.  
"Now as you know, as 3rd year students, entrance exams are coming up. I know you all will do exceptional, so it's really just a matter of picking a new school to attend once you're finished here."  
The students all turned and gave hushed comments to one another about the entrance exams.  
"And today, we have a high school student from Yugaki's high school branch to speak to you all today."

Kawata-sensei gestured towards the door, and a boy of about sixteen or seventeen walked through the door.  
"This is Miyamoto Hiro. He'll be giving you a short speech on Yugaki's high school branch, and why he decided to stay with Yugaki after his time in the middle school."  
All the girls in the room seemed to swoon as soon as Hiro walked through the door. The expression on their faces showed that they weren't going to listen to what Hiro had to say. Just that they were going to stare at his face for most of the talk.

All, that is, except for Audrey and Yui. Yui looked at Hiro with a determination to listen to what he had to say. She had no idea what entrance exams were, and she certainly had no idea if she were staying in the Human World long enough to actually go to high school. Still, she figured it would be best to give him the respect he deserved.  
"Thank you, Mr. Kawata." Hiro said.  
Audrey, on the other hand, couldn't look directly at Hiro. Her cheeks looked like large cherries, she was blushing so much. She gave Hiro one longing look.  
"_Miyamoto-kun…" _She thought.

* * *

Swindla walked the streets of the Kounchi. Greed levels had spiked a bit. Something called payday was today. Swindla rolled her eyes at the thought of money. Sure, it gave you power, but greed for money was the most basic and common source of greed in this world. Swindla liked finding unique sources of greed.

However, today Swindla was looking for something different to do. She had picked up on something from the two fights she'd had with Pretty Cure. They had a disgusting amount of trust for one another. Today, Swindla was going to find a way to break that trust.

* * *

"That Miyamoto-san is such a hot guy." Kichi said, biting into a rolled omelet.  
"He was so popular last year too." Madoka said, forking a few pieces of steamed vegetables into her mouth.  
"He went to this school last year?" Yui asked.  
"Yeah. He was actually Audrey's upperclassman! He was the president of the Poetry Club. She had a huge crush on him last year." Kichi teased, nudging Audrey softly with her elbow.

Audrey's face turned red again.  
"Kichi! Don't go around just saying those things…" She said, shoveling rice in her mouth, trying to do something to make her blushing fade.  
"There's nothing wrong with having a little crush, Audrey," Kichi said.  
"I bet he likes you, too! He looked over your way quite a few times during his little talk!"  
"He-he did?" Audrey said.  
"He was looking at you quite a lot, I agree," Yui said.  
"By the way... Is a crush something like having feelings for someone?"

"Yeah, it's kind of a slang term for saying someone likes another person a lot." Madoka said.  
"Interesting." Yui said, taking a sip of tea.

* * *

The final bell rang, and both Kichi and Madoka had club activities to attend to. The Poetry Club had a week off, and –as it was the first of the month– the Chess Club had a day off. Yui and Audrey met to go to Audrey's house and get a head start on homework.  
"So you really like this Miyamoto person?" Yui asked casually.  
Audrey didn't answer right away. However, she didn't feel herself blush like she did when Kichi and Madoka would ask her. Yui wasn't teasing her. She was genuinely curious.

"Personally, I think at this age, people are too young to know what they want in a partner." Yui said.  
Her blunt replies never seemed to throw Audrey off, like Kichi and Madoka were.  
"Yeah, sometimes I agree with that," Audrey said finally. "But, sometimes feelings aren't the easiest thing to control."  
Audrey was looking straight ahead, but she felt Yui's eyes on her.  
"Did you have someone you liked back in the Land of Cards?" Audrey asked.

She could tell Yui had looked forward, too.  
"I don't know if I liked them, but I did admire them." Yui said.  
After that, the two girls walked in silence to Audrey's house. Audrey looked over at Yui as they walked. Her black hair shined in the afternoon sun. If someone didn't know her, it almost would have looked as if Yui was scowling. Her lips curved naturally downward, but only slightly. Her brows were full and dark, but they were relaxed. And her burgundy eyes had a pain that only Audrey, Kichi and Madoka knew about, but were a long way from understanding.

"I'm home!" Audrey said to anyone who was in the house. "I've brought Yui with me, as well!"  
Audrey pushed off her shoes and slipped her feet into slippers, Yui following suit. The two set up their homework in Audrey's living room. As it turned out, Audrey's family was out, so Razor and Chula were safe to float and talk.

After about an hour or so, Yui put her pen down and stared at Audrey.  
"I think you should at least try and talk to Miyamoto-san." Audrey had taken a sip of tea when Yui spoke and almost spit her tea out.  
"Wh-what? Where did that come from?"  
_Ding-ding!  
_"Oh, it's a text from Kichi… 'Can't come, rehearsal's going to run late tonight.'" She read.  
"Don't change the subject~rayray!" Razor said.

"I'm serious, at least talk to him. If you're going to consider a partner for life at such a young age, you've got to have the courage to talk to him!"  
Yui's face had become rather passionate, and all Audrey could do was watch the other girl speak, dumfounded.  
"I'll… I'll try tomorrow."

* * *

Swindla had spotted Audrey and Yui on their way back to Audrey's house. She recognized the girls instantly. She didn't want to attack them now. No, she had to wait. It was time to put her plan in motion. Swindla hid in the shadows in an alley across from Audrey's house. The sun began to set and Yui walked out of Audrey's house. Swindla's lips curled into a smirk. She snapped her fingers and in a flash of dark magenta light, she stood as an almost identical version of Yui. The only difference was Swindla's eyes. They shone a shade of dark pink. Not quite burgundy, but close. And she had heard everything the girls were talking about.

* * *

There was a knock on Audrey's front door. She stood and answered the door, still the only person in her house. She had received a text from Madoka earlier saying that she was going to finish her homework with a few of her teammates at Tea Card. Audrey opened the door, surprised to see Yui again.  
"Oh, Yui! Did you forget something?"  
"Yeah, I think I forgot my pen." Swindla walked into the house and searched the living room.  
"I can't find it. I guess my fairy picked it up. Sorry to bother you." Audrey had joined in the search, but when Yui said it wasn't in the room, she too stopped.  
"Sorry about your pen. I hope you didn't lose it. I'll give you a new one if you can't find it."

"That won't be necessary." Swindla said, walking through the front door.  
"Oh, and one more thing," Swindla said, looking Audrey straight in the eyes.  
"I shouldn't have told you to go after the boy you like. He won't like you. You probably shouldn't waste your time. Bye." Swindla turned and left Audrey standing in the doorway. Audrey's navy eyes glinted with tears.

"Wh… what?" Audrey calmly shut the door and turned to find Razor floating behind her.  
"Audrey~rayray…" He chirped.  
Audrey grabbed the blue bird and wrapped him in her arms as she walked up the stairs. She used one hand to wipe away the tears that hadn't fallen yet. Razor looked up at her, his eyes full of worry.  
"Are you going to be okay~rayray?"  
Audrey entered her room and closed the door. She set Razor down in a small handmade bed she made for him, climbed into her bed and brought her knees up to her chin. She grabbed a pillow and pressed her face into it.

"Why would she say that?" Audrey's voice was muffled, but the pain was clear. "After she told me that I should try and talk to him."  
"Audrey, I don't know why Yui said that~rayray. It's not really like her to be so rude~rayray. She's honest, yeah, but never rude~rayray." Razor said, floating over to Audrey, perching himself on her knee. "However~rayray," Razor said. He paused, waiting for Audrey to respond.  
Audrey lifted her head from the pillow and put it back at the head of her bed.  
"However?"  
"You should go and talk to Miyamoto-kun anyway! Make Yui eat her words~rayray! Have courage, Audrey~rayray!"

* * *

The next morning in class, Yui greeted Audrey with a different attitude than what Audrey saw the evening prior.  
"Good morning, Audrey!" Yui said cheerfully.  
Kichi and Madoka hadn't made it to the classroom yet, which Audrey was thankful for.  
"Morning Yui." Audrey's said, her tone cool and slightly confused.  
"Is something wrong?" Audrey sat down, her back to Yui. She wished her desk wasn't in front of Yui's.  
"No, everything's okay. I'm going to talk to Hiro-kun today."  
"You are?! Oh, Audrey that's great!"

Audrey forcefully closed her school bag.  
"How can you say that?" She said, swiftly twisting her body around to face Yui.  
"After what you said to me yesterday?"  
"I told you to talk to him?" Yui said, just as confused as Audrey.

"Yeah, you did. Then you came back because you forgot your pen and then told me that I would be wasting my time talking to Hiro," Audrey said. She realized her voice was rising. She looked around the room. A few students were looking her direction, but when she made eye contact with them, they turned away.

"Audrey, I didn't say that! I didn't come back for my p-"  
"Whatever." Audrey said, turning back around.  
"I thought you were my friend. I was a little iffy about becoming your friend to begin with, but Kichi convinced me to give you a chance. Anyway," Audrey said, taking a deep breath.  
Yui's mouth opened slightly. Her expression turned stern and slightly pained.  
"I'm going to prove you wrong and I'll talk to Hiro-kun today. It won't be a waste of my time."

There was a tense pause between the girls.  
"I want to be your friend, Yui," Audrey said softly.  
Yui's expression softened a little.  
"Please… Show me that you want to be my friend too."

* * *

"Swindla?" Rounder asked, his voice echoing in the casino. Cas and Sharp were elsewhere, not that he cared.  
"I thought you were taking care of the warriors this time?"  
"Patience, Rounder dear. My plan has to take some time to work. Patience is all I need." Swindla said.  
She extended her fingers, the back of her hand rising in front of her face. She looked at her nails.  
"Oh, these won't do. I'll have to paint them over before I go and attack the warriors."

Rounder folded his arms, tapping his bicep with his finger.  
"You're worried about your nails? Go back to the human world and take care of those vermin!" He shouted.  
Swindla very slowly turned her head to face Rounder. In a flash of dark magenta petals, she stood in front of him, his shirt wrapped around her closed fist.  
"Keep in mind, Rounder dear," Swindla said, her words icy. "I used to lead this group before you came along. And for good reason. Don't forget what I can do to you."  
For a split second, Swindla saw true fear in Rounder's eyes. She'd only ever seen it happen once, and that was when the boy joined their group.

Swindla let go of Rounder, shoving him away.  
"Since you asked ever so nicely," She said, the sarcasm thick in her voice. "I'll go."  
In a twister of petals, Swindla was gone.

* * *

The lunch bell rang across the campus and Audrey darted for the classroom door. She was determined to make it over to the high school campus to talk to Hiro.  
"What's got her in a fuss?" Kichi asked, shoving a piece of celery around her bento with disinterest.  
"She's been acting weird all morning." Madoka said.  
"She thinks that I've said something rude to her." Yui said nonchalantly.  
"Well… Did you?" Kichi ventured.  
"Of course not. I don't know who said to her that talking to Miyamoto-san was a waste of time, but it certainly wasn't me." Yui said, her tone the same.

"Wait… what?" Kichi asked.  
"Yesterday it was me and her at her house doing homework. I told her that I thought she should have a talk with Miyamoto-san, since she has this… crush, was it?" Yui didn't wait for an answer from Madoka and Kichi to see if she was right. "And apparently I came back and told her that talking to him was a waste of time."  
The other two girls were silent. Kichi broke the silence.  
"But if it wasn't you, then who?"  
"I have an idea, I'm fairly positive I'm right, but…" Yui's voice trailed off.

"You think it was the Card Shark Quartet?" Madoka asked.  
"Swindla, in particular." Yui answered.  
"Then what are we waiting for?" Kichi said, standing up.  
"What do you mean, Kichi?" Yui said.  
"Swindla's probably on her way to do something right now! And Audrey doesn't know that!"

* * *

The high school campus was luckily just across the street. Audrey made it over to the high school within five minutes of leaving the middle school campus. She couldn't remember exactly what class Hiro said he was in, but she opened the door and saw Yui standing in front of her.

"Yui? How did you get here so fast?"  
"I told you, this was a waste of time didn't I?" Swindla said.  
"I'm proving you wrong! And besides," Audrey said.  
"What's with you changing your attitude every five seconds? This morning you acted as if last night didn't happen!"  
"I'm just looking out for you, Aubrey."  
"If you were looking out for me-"

Audrey stopped. Yui had said something strange.  
"Wait, tell me my name again?" She asked.  
"Aubrey, why would you need me to tell you your name?"  
"Because my name is Audrey." Audrey said.  
Swindla's smug face vanished instantly.  
"Well, I guess the jig is up."  
Yui stepped forward through a patch of shadows, and when she stepped into the light, Swindla stood before Audrey.

"Oh, Avari!" Swindla said.  
A small Avari made of various school supplies walked out from behind Swindla. A second one followed the first. Soon, Swindla had a small army of tiny Avaris standing behind her. Audrey walked backwards as more Avaris pushed their way out of the doorway behind Swindla. They began to pile on top of one another, the pile quickly rising above Swindla's head. Red light consumed the pile, and a single, giant Avari stood in its place.

"AVARI!" It roared.

Audrey wasted no time. She pulled Razor out of her pocket, her Pretty Cure Card appearing instantly.  
"Pretty Cure! Card Play! The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"Avari! Take down that pest!" Swindla shouted.  
"AVVVARRRIII!"  
The Avari had a pencil box torso, which opened upwards and fired pencil missiles at Royal. She managed to dodge most of them, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid the last couple pencils. They ran into the ground right behind her and exploded with magenta smoke.

Royal coughed as the smoke cleared. Fighting an Avari by herself, she quickly realized, was not going to be an easy task.  
"I JUST WANT STUDENTS TO COME TO THE HIGH SCHOOL BRANCH OF YUGAKI!"  
Royal's eyes widened. It was Hiro. Swindla had made an Avari of Hiro.  
"You made Hiro an Avari?!" Royal shouted to Swindla.  
"Oh? You knew the person that became this Avari? That makes this battle all the more enjoyable."  
Royal's fists clenched. The Avari stomped towards the Cure with its enormous eraser feet. Its crayon arm aimed for Royal. It glowed with orange heat before firing molten balls of wax at her.

Royal ran up close to the Avari to dodge its oncoming attack. She kicked and punched at the monster's legs, but she wasn't making any kind of effect on it. The Avari grabbed her with its non-crayon hand, a glimmering silver compass that was attached to an otherwise plain blue arm. It lifted Royal to its eyes, which were apart of a pencil top eraser.  
"I NEED MORE FRIENDS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL BRANCH FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL. I CAN'T MAKE NEW FRIENDS. I NEED MORE FRIENDS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL!"

The Avari roared in pain as it threw Royal across the yard. She landed hard on her back, knocking the wind out of her. She struggled to get back up, but her body refused to let her do so. The Avari's pencil case body opened up once more and fired more pencil missiles at Royal. The Warrior of Spades closed her eyes, but never felt the impact.  
"_Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!"_

White orbs of light energy flew towards the missiles, matching each one.  
"Royal! Are you okay?" Trump said, running up to the girl in blue.  
Royal managed to open one eye to look at Trump and Straight.  
"I am now, now that you three are here." Trump extended a hand. Royal took it and stood up with her friends. She looked over at Poker.  
"I'm so sorry! It wasn't you it was Swindla! She tr-"  
"She tricked you, I know. I began to think as much after your cold treatment of me this morning. Before you say anything, I know you're sorry. I know your words didn't mean anything. Let's take care of this so you can finally tell Miyamoto-san how you feel."

Royal was speechless. She looked into Poker's pale pink eyes. They looked different than the burgundy ones she had as Yui. Not because of the color, but the pain –while still there– wasn't as noticeable as it was when she became a human. It was replaced with confidence. Royal smiled.  
"That Avari is actually Hiro. You three distract it while I deliver the finishing blow."  
The girls nodded and sprinted off into different directions. Royal couldn't see what the other three girls did to distract the monster. All she could see was Hiro crying out in pain and sorrow. She had to fix this and fast.

"Razor," Royal said.  
"Thank you for believing in me, even when I was wrong about Yui. I have the courage to do this."  
"Go for it, Audrey~rayray!" She grabbed Razor from her waste, the phone's track lighting up. She traced the golden cross on it, and blue wind energy flurried around her.  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy! Royal Breeze!" _Royal shouted, flinging her arms towards the Avari.

The wind hit the Avari in the chest, instantly causing it to glow with blue light. A second later and the Avari exploded in a vast amount of blue smoke. Hiro was resting on the ground, unconscious. The card, as it always did, burned to black ashes the second it touched the ground.  
"Not bad Pretty Cure. Not bad at all." Swindla said disappearing in her small twister of petals.

* * *

Hiro opened his brown eyes, brushing his dark hair out of them. His head was resting on the ground, but something separated him from the concrete. He grabbed the back of his head and felt fabric. He sat upright and looked at his surroundings. Audrey was sitting next to him, her white button up showing, and her red school tie occasionally fluttered in the breeze.

"Shinohara-san!" Hiro cried, flinging his arms around Audrey.  
"I've told you before, Hiro-senpai. Call me Audrey." Hiro laughed as he picked up Audrey's black school blazer and handed it back to her.  
"What am I doing out here?" He asked.  
"I was coming out here to go over to the middle school, but I don't remember making it outside just yet."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I saw you on the ground. You looked kind of uncomfortable." Audrey said, taking her blazer and putting it in her lap. "Um, but," She said, her cheeks flushed, her throat went dry. "There's something I wanted to tell you, Hiro-senpai."  
"Yeah?"  
"Well, ever since you were president of the Poetry Club. I… uh…"  
"You what, Audrey?"  
Audrey gulped hard.  
"I've had a really big crush on you!" She shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell!"  
Hiro laughed.  
"Don't-don't laugh at someone who just confessed to you! It's rude!" Audrey huffed.  
"No! I'm not laughing at that, Audrey, I promise." He took her hand in his. Audrey felt her face become redder.  
"You're cute, Audrey."  
"But…" Audrey said.  
"But, truth be told," Hiro hesitated. "I actually like a guy here at the high school."  
Audrey felt her mouth slip open.

"Oh…"  
"And I think he likes me back. I don't have many friends, but he became one of my friends really fast. I hope I'm not wrong how I think he feels about me."  
Audrey pulled her hand away from Hiro's.

"Are you upset?" He asked.  
"No." Audrey said, a smile spreading across her face.  
"Two friends of mine told me to have courage and tell you how I feel. I feel much better now that I have." She grabbed Hiro's hand this time. "So, as my friends told me, have courage, Hiro-senpai!"

* * *

Nori sat quietly at her desk, finishing up her homework for the evening.  
"_Nori…"  
_Nori's head jerked upward with the sudden sound. She looked around her room, searching for the source of the sound. When she didn't find anything, she turned back to her homework.  
"_Nooorrriiii…" _A second whisper, this time sing-songy in tone, filled her room again.

"What's going on? That better not be Onee-chan playing a mean trick on me." Nori said, standing up and exiting her room. She walked the short steps across the hall and knocked on Iyari's door before entering.  
"You're not whispering my name through my door, are you?" Iyari didn't hear Nori at first. Nori then noticed the two white earbuds in her sister's ears. "Iyari!"

She said a little louder.  
"Oh! Nori! What's up?"  
"You haven't been whispering my name through my door, have you?"  
"Nooo… Why would I do that?"  
"Because you're an older sister."  
"Go back and do your homework, Nori."

Nori entered her room again, but she wasn't able to sit down and do her homework. Her room started spinning, and she realized she was getting dizzy. Before she knew it, she was standing underneath a tree in her back yard. The April night was quiet, and still a little cool from the thawing winter.  
Nori saw a figure before her.  
"Who… who are y-you?" She asked sleepily.  
"I'm the man that can make what you hate go away."  
There was a glint of orange, and soon, Nori was looking down at a five-sided gem in the palm of her hand. It rose from her hand and placed itself on her chest.

Lighting flashed in the sky. The gem began to glow with a dark orange light. Strips of black fabric began to consume Nori. Within seconds, she looked like a black mummy with a gem on her chest. Hair shot out of her head, extending to her ankles. It made itself into a ponytail that itself looked like a bolt of lightning. A spiked, two-layered skirt extended at her hips. With another flash of dark orange light, a new girl stood in front of the Gambling King. Her skin was pale, and her hair was burnt orange. The second layer of her spiked skirt was a similar burnt orange. She wore gloves that extended up to her shoulder. She wore boots that were thigh high, a jagged orange pattern going all the way down to her toes.

"AWAKEN! The Pretty Cure of evil! Ally of darkness! Warrior of greed! Enemy of light!" He shouted.  
The girl's eyes flashed open. They were a wicked red-orange color, completely devoid of any emotion.  
"What is your name?"  
"My name is Cure Cheat." She sounded just like Nori, but there was an evil edge to her voice.  
"And what is your mission?"

Cure Cheat was quiet for a short moment.  
"To kill the Pretty Cure Warriors."

* * *

Preview:

Kichi: Hey, Yui. We know how you got to become a Pretty Cure, but how did you get to the human world?  
Yui: I don't know. You'd have to ask Chula.  
Kichi: Chula! How did you and Yui get to the Human World?  
Chula: I'll have to tell you later! There's something really dark and evil coming our way~de chu!  
Kichi &amp; Yui: Dark and evil? What?!

Next time on _Pretty Cure Shuffle!_: "Chula's Secret! A new enemy, Cure Cheat?!"


	11. Chula's Secret! A New Enemy, Cure Cheat?

"Aaaaah!"  
Yui's eyes flashed open, her forehead beaded with sweat. She sat upright in her bed, looking around the dark room. Yui's fingers clenched the sheets she was sleeping in. A small smile spread on her face. She was still grateful for a home. Their living area was just above the cookie shop, which still no one objected to it being in the park. However, that smile faded as she remembered why she was awake. Chula opened the door as a human, her orangey brown eyes full of worry.  
"You screamed." She said softly.  
Yui brought her knees up, resting her elbows on them as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.  
"I heard myself this time." She said through her hands.

"Was it the same dream?" Chula asked.  
Yui was silent. Visions of the Land of Cards being attacked flashed in her memories. Rounder's face, warped by her dream, looked like a demon's. She didn't hear Chula ask the question a second time.  
"Poker," Chula said, placing her hand on Yui's shoulder. "Was it the same dream?"  
She asked a third time.  
Yui nodded her head a few times, still not saying anything, but grabbed Chula's hand. It comforted her to know Chula cared so much about her. She was her fairy partner after all.

"Poker," Chula's voice was hesitant.  
Yui looked over at Chula.  
"What is it?" She asked, hoping to get an answer. This wasn't the first time Chula had started a conversation like this the past couple of days.  
"Never mind. Just try and get some rest. You've got school in the morning."

* * *

Episode 11: _Chula's Secret! A New Enemy, Cure Cheat?!_

* * *

A fourth light flickered on in the casino. It shined on an area of the floor that was a bit further than that of the bar, the roulette table and Rounder's black jack table. Whatever rubble that remained form Rounder's tirade weeks ago had been cleared out and replaced with a chair. The wood was a brown so dark it almost looked black. It was gnarled wood, but it was formed into an elegant design. The back rose about two feet above the arms of the chair. A plain burnt orange cushion rested on the seat. A second, thinner cushion had been attached to the back of the chair. Various orange gems were implanted into the wood of the chair.

Cas, Swindla, Rounder and Sharp all turned in the direction of this fourth light appearing on the floor.  
"Why is that chair here?" Swindla was the first to break the silence.  
"Heck if I know." Cas's gruff voice sounded.  
"Quiet you two," Rounder said. "The King is here."

The four Card Sharks all knelt on one knee, all four multicolored heads looking down at the ground as he stepped into the light.  
"So formal, the four of you are." The King said, his voice light and almost giddy. "Stand, and you can look. Because you'll need to see this." He said.  
The Card Sharks all stood and stared at the King. There was something different about him. An excited tremble in his hands was extremely prominent, and it was obvious the King was having a hard time containing a huge smile.

"My Card Sharks," The King started.  
He paused as he took the time to look at each of his four underlings individually. Sharp looked indifferent at what was happening. His eyes showed no interest, and he gave a big sigh every few moments. Swindla was even more uninterested as Sharp, her eyes locked on with her nails. Cas's scratched one of the bald sides of his mohawked head, also not entirely interested, but there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes. Rounder's eyes were set on the King. The young man's lips curved upwards on one side of his mouth. The King rolled his eyes at Rounder. The boy tried too hard.

"I present to you a new addition to our little…" The King once again paused, unable to find the right word. He touched his chin, searching for the word. When it wouldn't come to him, he clapped his hands together, moving on. "Our very own Pretty Cure Warrior, Cure Cheat."  
The click clack of heels echoed in the empty casino. Seconds later, Cure Cheat stood in her light. Her skin was so pale that it took on the yellowed hue of the light shining on her.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Cure Cheat said, taking her seat in the chair, crossing her right leg over her left leg.

* * *

"Checkmate" Yui said flatly, slapping the timer on her right.  
"That's the first game today you've won, Oshiro-san."  
Yui didn't meet Iori's eyes.  
Instead she chose to stare at the black and white pieces on the black and white board, her thoughts too jumbled to truly pay attention to the game. However, she had lost three games prior to this one, and she couldn't let Iori win again. Not when she knew she had the perfect opening move.  
"It doesn't even seem like you're trying either… Is something wrong?"

For the first time since their chess club meeting began, Yui looked up at Iori, her expression genuinely shocked. Iori was a no nonsense type of team captain. When the club time started, it was chess for ninety solid minutes. He liked talking strategies, most of which Yui absorbed within seconds after Iori went through them. He had many practice games set up with the lesson for the day, even if he only had four members now. For him to ask Yui something unrelated to chess took her by surprise.

"Oh…" Her voice was soft.  
"You don't have to tell me. Not if you don't want to. Club time is almost up anyway." Iori said.  
He was kind. Kind of forgetful, and not very coordinated, but he was kind. Yui liked that about him. He cared for the three other members of his club.  
"Yamamoto-kun. Shizusaki-chan, finish up your game. We've got about five or six minutes left of club time."  
Iori began to stand when Yui's hand shot out and grasped his.  
"Wait." She said.

Iori looked at Yui's hand on top of his. A noticeable shade of red bloomed on both students' faces. Yui let go of Iori as Iori sat back down.  
"What is it, Oshiro-san?" Yui took in a deep breath and exhaled softly.  
"I've just been having these really weird dreams. I'm a little exhausted is all." She said.  
It wasn't what she wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him that she thought Chula was hiding something from her. That she wasn't necessarily being lied to, but that she wasn't being told the whole truth. Kind of like how what she was doing to Iori at the moment.  
"_How could I tell him though? I've not really had a chance to get to know him…" _Yui thought.

"Oshiro-san, did you hear me?" Iori asked, shaking Yui's shoulder slightly.  
Yui jerked her head to look into Iori's green eyes.  
"Oh, sorry. I was wrapped up in my head. What did you say?"  
"We have our first official tournament on Sunday! So we'll be practicing a lot more intensely these next three days."  
"Yes, Captain!" Yamamoto and Shizusaki cheered.  
Yui kept quiet, but her lips curled upward at the thought of a tournament. She knew they were apart of being on the chess team, but Iori had been so focused on really teaching his members how to play that this was the first official mention of a tournament.

"I know I've only told you guys about tournaments when you joined, but I finally got an official date yesterday after practice."  
Yui felt an odd sensation in her chest. It was as if everything was pulsing into the center of her chest. It took her a few seconds to realize she was nervous. But she was also excited. A chance to show of her skills. And for a moment, she forgot about Chula and whatever secret Chula was hiding from her.

* * *

Shizusaki and Yamamoto had left after Yui offered to help Iori clean up the small corner of the school library the chess team met in. When the final piece was put back into the game box, Yui looked up at Iori.  
"Hey, Iori," She started.  
Iori looked up at her, his shaggy blond hair covering one eye.  
"Yeah?" He asked.  
"Would you mind going to Tea Card with me?" Iori grabbed the two chess boxes and began walking with Yui to exit the library.  
"Sure. But I can't stay long. My mom wants me to head to cram school."  
"Oh, it won't be long. I just figured," Yui gulped. "I just figured it would be nice for the two of us to hang out outside of school is all."

* * *

Yui and Iori only had about ten minutes to talk. But those ten minutes were more than enough for Yui. She learned what cram school was, even though she thought the idea was ridiculous. Iori claimed it helped him study and make better grades, so he'd keep going to it because it helped him. It was a goal of Iori's to be the top of their class. Yui thought about their conversation as she walked back to the park.  
"_Do I have any goals? Besides wanting to save my home?" _She thought.

Before she knew it, Yui was standing in front of Chula's shop. She reached for the doorknob, but hesitated. Chula was inside. What would her reaction be to seeing Yui come home? Especially when she hadn't planned on going to Tea Card that afternoon. Yui took a deep breath and opened the door.  
"Hey, Yui!" Kichi called.  
"Welcome home~lingu!" Darling said.  
Chula, in her human form, poked her head from the kitchen.  
"Yui! Where were you? I was worried!" Chula said.

"I was with Iori. We stopped by Tea Card after Chess Club today." She said curtly.  
"I'm glad to know you care enough to worry about me."  
Yui hadn't meant to say the words out loud. The small chatter from Kichi, Audrey, Madoka and the fairies instantly ceased when she did.  
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" Chula said, hurt.  
Yui had her back to Chula, too many thoughts in her mind to say at once.  
"I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I'll be in my room." Yui said, ascending the stairs.

"Yui! You stay right where you are! Come back and talk to me!" Chula said.  
"Now you want to talk?" Yui half shouted, spinning around to face Chula.  
"Hey… Let's calm down here~rayray." Razor said nervously.  
"Yui, what are you talking about~de chu?!" Chula said, poofing back into her true form.  
"I'm talking about whatever it is you're keeping from me! The past couple of days, you'd start to talk to me, and then I feel like you're about to say something important," Yui took in a breath.  
"But then you say something completely different! Do you not trust me, or something? We're partners, aren't we?!"

The room was quiet for some time. The girls at the table were quiet. Audrey picked pieces of her scone off, but not eating a single crumb. Kichi was looking back and forth between Yui and the small white mouse floating in front of her friend. Madoka stared intently at the table, not wanting to get involved.  
"Are you keeping something from us, Chula~roro?" Keroro croaked.  
The three fairies floated over to Chula, but gave the mouse some space. Chula was fidgeting with her tail, squeaking softly to herself.

"Chula," Kichi said, walking over to Chula and taking the fairy in her arms. Yui still stood on the staircase, but she wasn't looking anywhere in particular. "If you're not telling Yui something that could be important, then you're not telling us, as warriors something important."  
Kichi's voice was soft and soothing. The small fairy looked up at Kichi with black-brown eyes. Chula took in a deep breath; a million thoughts could be seen in her eyes before she spoke.  
"There is something I need to tell you." She finally said.

* * *

"Cure Cheat will be leading the attack today." The King said to the Quartet.  
"And why's that? If she's brand new, then she needs to learn the ropes! She's not ready for comb-" Swindla was silenced as a bolt of dirty orange lightning flashed by her face. Swindla gulped.  
"I think I can handle it." Cheat said. She'd only said a few words since the King introduced her, but her tone was icy as ever.

"She's in a class all her own." The King said, his tone a mix of excitement, pride and admiration. "So much in fact," He continued. "That Cure Cheat actually is not a new Card Shark, but my very own Second in Command."  
"WHAT?!" The Quartet cried in unison.  
Electricity crackled around Cure Cheat, and the four Card Sharks backed away, silent.

"Your Majesty," Cheat said, standing up from her chair and facing the King. A single dark red eye looked back at Cheat, the second behind a curtain of dark red hair. "I think I'll take my leave now."

* * *

A final cup of tea was poured and placed in front of Yui as the girls settled into their chairs, waiting for Chula to speak. She was a human again, wearing her usual white sundress with black polka dots on it. Chula pulled up her own chair, sat down, chest expanding as she took in yet another deep breath.  
"What I haven't been telling you is how Poker and I really got to the human world."  
Chula said, picking up her cup of tea, but not putting it to her lips yet.

Yui kept her eyes fixed on Chula, ignoring the tea in front of her. Since her memories had returned, she spent most of her time thinking about ways to become a better warrior, a better protector. She knew that the Land of Cards was in trouble, and that she had to protect it and restore it. But it never once crossed her mind how she would get to the Land of Cards.

"The Queen knew the attack was happening the day it came. I'm not sure how, but she did," Chula started, taking a long sip from her cup. Once she swallowed, she continued. "Well, I guess she didn't know for certain, but she had a feeling. That's what she told me, anyway. She summoned me early that morning to tell me that. And in doing so, she gave me a key."  
"A key? To what?" Audrey asked.  
"The Queen told me it was a key that would take me and Poker to a place of safety, a place that Poker and I would need to protect. She said the Land was doomed to suffer that day, and there was nothing she could do about it."

The girls were silent, as were the three fairies.  
"A place of safety that would also need protection. She meant…Earth?" Madoka asked.  
"I can only assume," Chula said, falling quiet for a while after.  
Audrey continued to pick off small pieces of the scone she had in front of her, taking bites of it this time. Madoka, like Yui, could do nothing but stare at Chula as she spoke. Kichi's eyes wondered around the room, occasionally resting on Chula, her head on her palm.

"After the attack started," Chula's tone changed from serious to somber. "I lost track of the Queen. I wasn't with Poker, but because I'm her partner, I always knew where she was. At least, in the Land of Cards. Here on Earth, it's harder to pinpoint Poker for some reason. Anyway, I was searching for the Queen when I felt Poker receive an extensive amount of damage. I flew to her as fast as I could."  
Chula stared down at the murky green water in her cup. Her tea didn't look appetizing anymore.

"I found Poker lying on the ground, almost unconscious and at the mercy of Rounder. I did my best to distract him. And when I got to Poker, I didn't hesitate to use the key. I didn't have any instruction from the Queen on how to use it, but I guess because it was a magic key, it responded to my emotions and the next thing I knew," Chula paused. A sense of homesickness filled her. How the sun would always shine in the Land. The Market Place was always full with the smell of freshly baked bread. Fields upon fields of beautiful flowers, capturing the colors of the rainbow could be seen wherever you looked.

Talking about home made her sadder than she liked to admit.

"The next thing I knew, I was a human and Poker and I were underneath the cherry blossom tree outside."  
The girls and the fairies were silent for a while after Chula finished speaking, a common occurrence in the shop that day.  
"All we need is the key to go back to the Land of Cards then!" Kichi said, breaking the silence.  
"Do you still have it with you, Chula?" Kichi asked.  
Chula hesitated before answering.

"This is why I didn't want to say anything," She said, taking a sip of her tea, despite being uninterested in it. "Once I realized we were on Earth, I was happy, actually. We were safe. I was about to put the key in a pouch I brought with me, but before I could, it broke and the pieces shot off in different directions."  
"That's why you didn't want to say anything? Why?" Yui said, finally speaking up.  
"I didn't want to get your hopes up, Poker," Chula said. "I didn't want to tell you, 'Hey, there's a way we can get you home, but I have no idea where it is because they could be anywhere on Earth.' I couldn't live with myself if I got your hopes up like that, only for them to not be realized."

Yui stood and wrapped her arms around Chula's shoulders, hugging her tightly.  
"Thank you for telling me though." She whispered.

* * *

Cure Cheat stood atop one of the tallest buildings in Kounchi. The city was big, but it wasn't big in a "big city" sense. Cheat knew the town well. For some reason, however, she couldn't remember why. She only remembered waking up a few nights ago. Either way, the King had told her she owed him her life because, well, he gave her life. She wasn't going to argue with that if he was kind enough to bless her with such a gift.

Her long, burnt orange hair flowed in waves as the wind picked up. She looked down at the card the King had given her. He told her that she had the ability to turn anyone into an Avari. Just pick a person and all she had to do was throw the card, regardless of how greedy they were. She jumped down the building, not caring if anyone saw her. As far as she was concerned, they should know who she was. And they should be scared of her.

But Cure Cheat wasn't interested in using the flimsy little card. She tucked the card away as her feet delicately touched the concrete. Her red orange eyes looked straight ahead, in the direction of the only source of magic in this town. She charged.

* * *

Dust and dirt flew everywhere in concentrated clouds. Amidst the clouds, orange electricity crackled, scorching the wood in the bakery black. Kichi, Audrey, Madoka and Yui barely had time to register what happened and as the dust cleared, they saw a figure standing in the now destroyed doorway.

"So," The voice was feminine, but the single word sent chills down the girls' spines, causing their skin to crawl it was so sinister. "You four are Pretty Cure?"

Kichi's fists were clenched tight as she stared at the figure outside the bakery. She didn't dare move, but looked to her left and right to see if the other three girls were okay.

"Girls!" She shouted.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"  
"The Ultimate Winning Move! Cure Trump!"  
"The Elegant Finishing Move! Cure Royal!"  
"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"  
"The Risky Beginning Move! Cure Poker!"  
"Playing for everyone's hearts! Pretty Cure Shuffle!"

The dust finally settled, revealing a girl about the same age as Pretty Cure, dressed in black, with orange accents. Cure Cheat's cold eyes stared at the four girls, as if to analyze each one.  
"Oh, do come out of the shop. No one wants to fight in a tiny place like that." Cheat mocked.

The four warriors all ran forward, the girl in black elegantly leaping backward to give herself more room as well. Straight was the first too reach Cheat. The green warrior rapidly punched at the girl, but not a single punch managed to touch her.

"Darkness Lightning!" Cure Cheat said, thrusting her open hands forward.  
Dark orange electricity raced down her arms from her shoulders before concentrating in her palms. A huge blast of lightning sent Cure Straight backwards.  
"Straight!" Trump, Royal and Poker cried.

The three girls looked at the Dark Warrior, each expression wide and wild with concern and fear. It was obvious she was with the Card Sharks and the Gambling King. But she was different. She had more power, and just the way she looked at the Pretty Cure warriors told them she was fighting for a different reason than those she worked with.

Royal grabbed Straight's shoulders and helped the girl in green sit up. Straight's pained expression lessened as she sat upright, but her stomach felt like it had been set on fire from the other girl's attack.  
"She's… strong." Straight said through pained breaths.  
"Try not to move so much." Royal said.  
Trump, in a flash of pink, raced past Straight and Royal. She had shaken herself out of the daze the Dark Warrior had left her in.

"Pretty Cure Kick!" Trump shouted, jumping above the girl in black and thrusting one of her legs forward.  
The Dark Warrior grabbed Trump by her ankle, swung her around a few times before letting go. Trump slammed into a near by tree, the wind knocked out of her.  
"Trump!" Poker shouted.

"You take care of Trump," Royal said, gently touching Poker's shoulder.  
Poker turned to look at Royal and nodded. The White Warrior turned and ran off in Trump's direction, trying to mask the fear. This Dark Warrior was unlike anyone they had faced before. And for the first time since the day the Land of Cards was taken over, Poker was scared.  
"_Witness my sparkling strategy! Royal Breeze!"_The blue wind energy hit Cure Cheat, but if it did any damage, Cure Cheat wasn't showing signs of it.

"Is this really all you four have got?" Cheat asked, a superior tone ringing in her voice.  
Electricity crackled around Cure Cheat's figure. She smirked as she stared right at Cure Royal.  
"Darkness Torpedo!"  
Within seconds, Cure Cheat became engulfed in her dark orange electricity and flew towards Royal. The Elegant Fighter barely had time to raise her arms and try and block the Dark Warrior. Once Royal fell to the ground, Cheat turned her body and charged at Cure Poker.

Looking like a human sized bullet, Cheat felt the wind run across her body, each wisp she felt dance across various parts of her body giving her encouragement to end the battle quickly.  
"_Begin the risky game! Poker Barrage!"  
_White orbs struck Cure Cheat from random directions. She stopped her attack and began furiously punching at the white orbs, trying to get rid of them. The orbs were like mosquitos on a hot, humid day. The clustered around Cheat, either being punched off in a different direction, or hitting her somewhere on her body.

"ENOUGH!" Cure Cheat yelled, her body glowing with orange light. Each of the orbs around her burst into white smoke as the light around Cheat's body began to expand.

Standing next to Trump, Poker's breath became labored.  
"_Now I know a Poker Barrage shouldn't go on for that long…" _Poker thought.  
Her knees week, Poker buckled to the ground. Trump, who had been knocked unconscious by Cheat's attack, opened her eyes. Poker felt Trump slide her fingers into hers. Poker held Trump's hand tight.  
"We're okay." Trump said weakly.

"I honestly expected a better fight out of the four of you," Cheat said. "But this was no fun. You four are weak."  
Cheat again sounded too full of herself. Like no matter what the girls could do, Cheat would always reign victorious. Like they could have four, or four hundred Pretty Cure fighting against her, and they would still lose the battle.  
"Who are you anyway?!" Straight shouted, her arms still wrapped around her stomach.

"Me? Why I thought you'd never ask. I am Cure Cheat! Pretty Cure of Evil! Warrior of Greed! Ally of Darkness, and an enemy of Light!" Cure Cheat introduced herself as if she had practiced it many times.  
"I will show you mercy," She continued. "And let you recover. Though I should warn you," She paused, savoring the moment. "I won't hold back next time."  
And in a flash of orange electricity, Cure Cheat vanished.

* * *

The broken front door to the bakery had been restored to normal shortly after Cure Cheat disappeared. Kichi, Audrey, and Yui all sat at the table in the middle of the floor. Madoka had been taken upstairs to lie down. Most of her injuries disappeared when she became Madoka again, but a large, garish splotch of purple the size of a fist appeared on her stomach. Chula walked down the stairs, her face ashen.  
"Madoka will be fine. She's sore, but she'll be fine with some rest."  
She said, her words sounding like an after thought.

"Cure Cheat…" Yui said, tears of frustration and anger filling her eyes. "I couldn't protect you three from her." Yui tried her best to blink the tears away, but her blinking caused them to fall. "I just can't seem to protect anyone." Yui's words soon became sobs, her body shaking as she began to cry. Her words became intelligible as briny tears fell from her face.

It was the first time Yui truly let herself cry. She always hated crying, even when she was a child. It made her look weak, vulnerable. Letting someone see you cry was just embarrassing. She hated herself for crying as much as she did. She wasn't sure how long she cried for, but eventually they stopped, her sobs becoming nothing more than annoying hiccups. She looked up, a pair of soft brown eyes and a pair of clear blue eyes staring back at her.

Kichi and Audrey were smiling at Yui.  
"Wh-why… are you… smiling?" Yui asked through hiccups.  
"Because," Kichi started. "Because we want to get you home." She said simply.  
Yui's puffy eyes betrayed her confusion.  
"You are a protector, Yui. You protected the three of us from being beat up any worse from that Cure Cheat." Audrey said.

"But…but M-Madoka?"  
"Madoka will be fine. She won't blame you. No one does." Audrey said.  
Yui wiped the remainder of her tears away and stood up. Darling, Razor and Chula (Keroro was with Madoka upstairs) all looked up at Yui.  
"It's decided then. No matter where those key pieces are, we're finding them."

* * *

Preview:

Kichi: Do you guys feel like bad guys aren't really bad guys?  
Audrey: What?  
Kichi: Like, do you think that they just fight for what they thing is right, or do you really think they're bad?  
Audrey: Um, I guess they fight for what they think is right?  
Kichi: Hmmm…

Next time on _Pretty Cure Shuffle!_: "A Wavering Heart! Sharp's Lesson in Kindness!"


	12. A Notice and Update

Hey guys! I don't know how popular this story is, but (and I hate to say this) I'm going to have to put this story on hold indefinitely right now. I really hoped I could stick with this and see it through to the end, but right now, it's just not possible for me.

See, I've had Pretty Cure Shuffle! in my head for about 3 years now. 2 1/2 was spent in actually planning it out, and I wrapped it up about a year ago, if not a little less than a year ago. To me, it's done and it's over. And I know it's not for anyone who has enjoyed reading this story. It's really not fair for me to do this, but every time I've tried to sit down and write for Shuffle, nothing comes to me. And it's also not fair for me to give you guys a crappy finish to this story.

I've thought about doing a "Tell-All" or "This is what happens" type of post for Shuffle, but something doesn't sit right with me about doing that. You wouldn't get to see any of the character development happen if I did that. Sure, you'd get a finish to the story, but some part of me thinks that it wouldn't be very satisfactory for any of you to read that.

Like I said, I really hate to have to do this. I want to give this story a finish, I really do! I just am not in the state of mind to finish it right now.

-MrAntonio


	13. Pretty Cure Shuffle! Tell-All

So despite what I said in my update for this story, I've made the decision to effectively end Pretty Cure Shuffle.

It really saddens me to say that. I wanted to badly to have the dedication to finish this story but I cannot. I made a bad choice in committing to Compass while still writing Shuffle. Unfortunately, my ideas for Compass are fresher than and not as complete as Pretty Cure Shuffle! And as I said in my update, I've had Shuffle completed in my head for a LONG time at this point.

But I didn't want to leave any fans of the series (if there are any!) without any closure. So here's a tell-all for Pretty Cure Shuffle. You'll learn the whole story from this.

Episode 12, the chapter that was supposed to be the next episode predominantly focused on Kichi and Sharp. In it, Sharp decided to do some undercover work, but ended up befriending Kichi while doing so. At the end of the episode, we'd see Sharp question his motives and wonder if what he's doing with the Gambling King is really what he wants to do.

Episodes 13 through 15 are filler episodes, dealing with Madoka, Audrey and Kichi respectively. In these episodes, we learn that Madoka had a bit of a bad girl persona prior to moving to Kounchi. She had to move to the new city for two reasons: One, her dad got a new job and two, she had been kicked out of her last school for excessive and chronic fighting. She would then channel all that anger and aggression into basketball. Audrey has her birthday in episode 14. Kichi &amp; co. decide to throw a surprise party and Audrey thinks that she's being kept in the dark about something more serious than that (maybe that the other girls don't want to be friends with her/they don't want her on the Pretty Cure team). Episode 15 features Kichi's estranged mother. We learn that Kichi's parents have divorced. At the beginning of the episode, Kichi is taking care of an Avari by herself and her mother sees her detransform. By the end of the episode, through events that I haven't planned out, Kichi's anger towards her mother (she blames her mother for the divorce) is placated a little.

In these three episodes, the three pieces to the Land of Card's key are found.

Episode 16 starts a two episode Cheat arc: In episode 16, Cheat takes one person from the girls' family and holds them hostage and holds them in the deserted Land of Cards. Now that they have the Key, Pretty Cure go to Cure Cheat. The episode ends with the Queen of the Land of the Cards appearing before Pretty Cure before things get too out of hand.

Episode 17 features the Queen giving Pretty Cure a power up: The Card Heart Bells. Each girl gets a new attack and they are as follows: Trump – Heart Blade, Royal – Spade Storm, Straight – Club Inferno, Poker – Diamond Barricade. And they all gain a group final attack called the Heart Knight Slash. The Bells transform into hilts with light energy blades for the group attack. The Cures damage Cure Cheat considerably and it is revealed that Nori has been corrupted into Cure Cheat.

Episodes 18 through 21 are filler episodes with only 18 having some semblance of a plot. In episode 18, we learn that both Yui and Iori have a crush on one another! These episodes have a lack of Cure Cheat being the villain of the day and see Nori back to school, though she has no recollection of her time as Cure Cheat. Hints about a 5th cure start at the end of this episode. The hints are as follows:

18 – A 5th Pretty Cure will appear soon!

19 – The 5th Pretty Cure's Symbol is the Star!

20 – The 5th Pretty Cure's theme color is purple!

21 – The 5th Pretty Cure will appear in the next episode!

Episodes 22 through 24 feature the Cure Joker Arc.

Episode 22 is titled "Who Will Win?! Cure Cheat vs. Nori-san!" In this episode, the Gambling King makes an appearance once again. He reminds Nori of her time as Cure Cheat. She doesn't want to believe him, but she knows he's telling the truth. However, she refuses to join the Gambling King again. Pretty Cure arrive and finally meet the King face to face. They don't want Nori to join the King either, but the King eventually wins, creating a powered up Cure Cheat. Just as Pretty Cure are about to be struck with a final attack by Cheat, a mysterious star shaped shield appears, wielded by a mysterious girl. Kichi – having sustained so much damage from Cheat had to detransform – asks the savior for her name. The mysterious girl doesn't respond but fights Cure Cheat. After the Gambling King recognizes who she is, he takes Cure Cheat with him back to their lair. The mysterious girl turns to Pretty Cure and announces that she is Cure Joker, the Wild Card of Mysteries. When asked who her true identity is, she laughs and says that she can't do that, staying true to her title. However, if one of the four girls figures out who she is, she will reveal herself to the rest. The episode leaves with Joker disappearing.

Episode 23 is titled "The Wild Card of Mysteries! Just Who is Cure Joker?!" This episode features the girls going through a list of potential candidates to interview on whether or not she is Cure Joker. They noticed she was a bit older than they were so they set their sights on high school girls. Since Cure Joker had purple hair, they ask their trusty waitress from Tea Card, Hoshiko – who has indigo hair herself – if she knows anything. When she knows nothing of the sort, the girls are at a loss. Cure Cheat attacks again and when she proves to be too much for them for a second time, Joker appears again. She wards of Cheat again and Kichi askes the mysterious warrior to join them. But Joker changes her original challenge after Kichi's request: This time, only Kichi can figure out who Joker's true identity is. And she leaves unintentional clue: she tells Kichi to "Go for broke."

Episode 24 is the last episode of the Joker Arc and is titled "Kichi's Impossible Task! The True Identity of Cure Joker is…?!" In this final episode, Audrey knew exactly who Joker was when she assigned only Kichi to the task, due to the "go for broke" comment. But since only Kichi is left to the task, she can't help her. She does, however, tell Kichi to go to the high school. They've met Cure Joker before. In fact, Cure Joker was turned into an Avari. Kichi goes to the high school and by pure luck, the first person she runs into – literally runs into – happens to be Cure Joker's true identity. Cure Joker turns out to be none other than Cure Cheat's older sister, Iyari Niijima. The two talk and we learn that two years prior to the story, Iyari was one of two defenders for the Land of Cards. Iyari was reckless as a Cure and was the cause of the Gambling King's initial attack and warning on the Land of Cards. Angry at the Land of Cards' King and her own partner, she let the Gambling King into their country. After he left, Iyari was stripped of her title of Pretty Cure and was banned from the Kingdom. When asked how she got her powers back, Iyari herself isn't sure. Her transformation item, the Star Mirror, appeared on her bedroom desk the day she first saved the current Pretty Cure team. She assumed it was the King giving her her powers back after realizing how dangerous the Gambling King was getting. But Kichi informs Iyari that the King no longer rules the Land of Cards, but now a mysterious Queen does. And she was coroneted two years ago. We also learn that Iyari resented the King for a while, for his choice. She felt that she deserved to be a Pretty Cure… she just made a mistake, which explains why her Avari seemed to tap into a hidden greed. This episode also features the first, onscreen transformation of Cure Joker.

Episodes 25 through 27 are filler episodes. They deal with Audrey learning how to deal with Iyari's hot headedness, Madoka and Iyari becoming quick friends, and Iyari trying to get Yui to see that she was not the perfect Cure before Yui became a Cure. These episodes also deal with the subplot featuring Sharp and his conflicting emotions about being on the wrong side, and he begins to remember bits and pieces of his past that had been, until recently, forgotten.

Episode 28 is the climax of the Sharp subplot. In this episode, we learn that Sharp was actually the son of the former King of the Land of Cards. This episode is told in flashback as Sharp remembers everything that was erased from his memory, which we learn was not a permanent charm and was never meant to be permanent. The former Queen died during childbirth, and when Iyari let the Gambling King into the Kingdom, he erased his son's memories and hid him away. Unfortunately, in his stupor, Sharp landed in the hands of the Gambling King. After learning of the Gambling King's power, the former King realized he needed to protect himself, so he appointed a woman – Sharp is unsure of her true identity – as his successor, and she becomes the new Queen of the Land of Cards.

Episode 29 features the Card Shark Trio getting a power up from the Gambling King. The Avaris that are created are almost too much for Pretty Cure. The episode ends with the 5 girls getting a message from the Queen of the Land of Cards, telling them to meet her in a place called the Ace Hall.

Episode 30 deals with Pretty Cure arriving at the Ace Hall. They meet with the Queen, but the Queen is someone familiar to Iyari. In fact, we learn that the Queen was actually Iyari's former partner, Takeuchi Rei, otherwise known as Cure Queen. Transforming into Cure Queen, Rei instructs Pretty Cure that they must defeat her in battle if they wish to receive a power up of their own. The girls don't work as well as a team as Cure Queen had hoped, and they all are defeated by her. The episode ends with Rei giving the Cures a second chance.

Episode 31 is titled "Cure Queen's Final Judgement! Pretty Cure's Ultimate Power Up!" In this episode, Rei visits with Pretty Cure as they recover from their fight in episode 30. In this episode, we learn that the King feared the Gambling King, and he needed to find a way to protect the kingdom, so he went to the Ace Hall himself to speak with a deity named The Spirit of the Ace. There, the two crafted something called the Ace Tablet, which will give any future Pretty Cure the power to defeat the Gambling King once and for all. When the Ace Tablet was created, the King needed to go into hiding and appointed Rei as his successor. Rei protested, telling him that she had a life back home. But he promised that her being the Queen was only temporary and that when she would return home, it would be like no one noticed she was gone. So she accepted. After Pretty Cure became well rested, they had to fight Cure Queen once again. This time, they were victorious. And they were awarded the Ace Tablet. To test out their powers, a monster is summoned and Pretty Cure activate the Ace Tablet, which allows them to access their ultimate power, the Charity Forme. And with it they use a new attack called the "Pretty Cure Ace Victory."

Episodes 32 through 35 are filler episodes, which feature the Cures using their new Charity Forme to take care of the powered up Avaris.

Episodes 36 through 39 are the finale. Episode 36 features the Cures using their Charity Forme to purify Cure Cheat – and for good this time. They take Nori home before heading to the Gambling King's realm. 37 features Pretty Cure fighting with the Card Shark Trio, they, too end up being purified from their evil ways. Episode 38 is the big fight with the Gambling King. In this episode, we learn that the Gambling King was actually a bastard son of the King of the Land of Cards. Ashamed of his infidelity, the King made sure that the Gambling King and his mother were well taken care of, but when the Gambling King – whose name is revealed to be Roland – tries to make a claim to his inheritance (i.e. the crown) the King rejects him and publically humiliates him. Roland falls into a sort of misery, getting drunk and betting all of the money he and his mother got from the King. Because of this, his inner greed corrupts him, similar to Nori's situation. In the present situation, the Gambling King reveals he's learned how to control his greed, but this time he lets it consume him and he transforms into an enormous Avari. Pretty Cure, completely overpowered have to gain a new power from the cheers of the people of Kounchi. The episode ends with Pretty Cure fusing with each other and the Ace Tablet to form a ten foot tall Pretty Cure named Cure Shuffle.

Episode 39 is the final episode of Pretty Cure Shuffle. In this episode they manage to purify Roland from his greed. He reverts to who he was prior to being humiliated by his father. The King comes out of hiding and thanks Pretty Cure for saving his sons and his kingdom. He decides, however, that he preferred not ruling the Land of Cards and appoints Roland as his successor, effectively releasing Rei from her position. The story ends with Poker deciding to stay in the Human World, but promising to visit her mother often in the Land of Cards.


End file.
